Life in Lima
by Dash33
Summary: As a new student at McKinley, Jamie just wants to focus on earning her scholarship. That isn't so easy when she meets Brittany's girlfriend, Santana. The final high school year is full of fun and drama before they move on to bigger and better things! Disclaimer: I do not own anything regarding glee. This is just for fun. Feel free to leave reviews or suggestions! Santana L./OC fic
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was my first day at the new school. I was starting in the middle of the year, which didn't make things easy. If I wanted any shot at a lacrosse scholarship I had to come to McKinley's sports program. As I walked down the hallway towards my last class of the day, I heard music coming from a classroom. I'm getting closer when I realize I've walked past it, I double back and peek around the corner. A few girls are gathered around the piano singing Tay Tay's, TwentyTwo. They're pretty good and they look like they're having a pretty awesome time; then I see her. Her smile is incredible. Her dark hair shapes her face and makes her lips stand out. I can't peel my eyes off her, until, the blonde next to her pulls her into a bear hug n gives her a kiss. Girlfriend? Hmmm. I wonder, least I know she plays on my team, I think to myself as I continue to class.

After school I have my first practice with my new team. We're all stretching on the field waiting for the coach. I'm quiet as I listen to the conversations around me.

"Santana's a bitch. She talks a big game but doesn't have anything to back it up," said a girl to my right.

"Yeah, but she's smoking" says the girl next to her. I wonder whom they're talking about, this Santana sounds like a treat.

"It doesn't matter, someone who's that self involved doesn't have anything else to offer. Get over it, plus she's with Brittany. That's not changing anytime soon," says the girl next to me.

The girl to my left brings me back from my thoughts,

"Hi! I'm Sugar! You must be the new forward that everyone's talking about."

"Yeah, I'm Jamie, nice to meet you. Your name's pretty cool."

"Thanks, it's probably because my parents think I'm sweet as sugar. I play goalie."

"Cool " I nod my head, still trying to eavesdrop on the other conversation.

After practice I head home, Sugar seemed nice. A little blunt, but she said it had something to do with her Aspergers. I've never met anyone who's played lacrosse and been autistic as well. She was pretty good too.

A few weeks went by, lacrosse was going really well. I started hanging with a few of the girls on the team, Sugar and Marley. Everyday at lunch, we'd sit in the cafe and they'd give the run down of the school, the gossip and things I should know to help fit in. All I learned was stay away from the meatloaf and a chick named Santana.

"Rumor has it, she attacked some sophomore girl with just her vicious words and sent her into a psychotic episode" said Sugar with eyes wide open as if she had seen a two headed monster.

" Who is this girl?" I asked probably a little more scared than I needed to be, not that I would admit it.

"She's the new head cheerleader," said Marley.

"And she's one of the leads in the glee club" Sugar chimed in.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me, the scariest, meanest girl in school is part of glee club?" I asked.

"Don't let glee club fool you, we're some bad ass bitches up in there" said Sugar. I rolled my eyes n chuckled to myself. I forgot about glee club, they also seem to have a few cuties up in there too from what I saw my first day. I hadn't seen that girl again, I wonder who she was.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

We were on a winning streak and coach let us out of practice early Friday afternoon. Sugar, Marley n I were running through the halls passing the lacrosse ball around with Sugar's boom box backpack blaring some kind of loud music, she insisted was "the bomb". Then it happened. It seemed like it all was a big blur. One second we were tossing the ball around, the next some poor girl was on the ground. Sugar was having an off day, we kept whipping the ball at her to practice her reflexes and she was catching most. As we rounded a corner, Sug started running, I let her get a bit further away before I snapped a shot head level. Sug reached for the ball but tripped over a backpack on the floor. She started laughing before we realized the resting place of our ball. While we were watching Sugar fall on her ass, my shot had gone over her head and right into the face of the prettiest girl of McKinley. I jumped over Sug as this girl fell against her locker.

"Hey! Are you okay?" I asked, catching her as she slid down against the locker.

No answer.

"Mar! Run and grab a first aid kit from the locker room. Make sure you grab the smelling salts!"

Sugar sat up with a terrified look on her face. "Uh oh" she said.

"What? She'll be fine, she just got the wind knocked out of her, it happened to you last practice!"

"It's not the shot I'm worried about, do u know who's head you have resting in your lap?"

I looked down, I wanted to say probably the hottest girl in Lima but Sug didn't look like she was joking.

"Who?" I asked.

"That's Santana. I'm out of here before she wakes up" she said as she scrambled to her feet and out the door.

Minutes later, I was holding a salt stick under her nose. Marley had booked it too once she got back with the smelling salt and ice packs. Finally the girl started to stir.

"Hey... probably shouldn't move around too much. You took quite a hit to the head" I said as gently as I could.

"Who the hell are you?" Asked Santana.

"I'm Jamie, the new forward for the lacrosse team. Here, let me hold this ice pack to your eye. It's pretty swollen. I didn't know any other clubs ran on Fridays," I said as I eased an ice pack on her face.

"Yeah, glee club runs until 5 but Mr. Shue let us out early. My head is killing me," said Santana as she grimaced against the ice.

"Can I call someone for you? You should probably be checked out by a doctor," I asked.

"No, my parents are away for the weekend and my girlfriend left early for a dance competition" she replied.

"Oh, you have a girlfriend?" Nice Jamie, way to play that cool.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Her tone sounding a little more annoyed now.

"No not at all, my girlfriend and I actually broke up before I moved here." Trying to keep some form of confidence, I tried to get back to the subject of her head.

"Can I take you to get your head checked, I feel super bad for smoking you with my shot, I'm really sorry by the way". I'm starting to ramble. I'm getting nervous. What is this girl doing to me?

" Yeah, I guess we should since I passed out. I can get someone to take me, don't worry about it" she started.

"Please, I'd really like to take you. This is entirely all my fault. My car is just outside."

She agreed and I helped her to my car.

Three hours later, we were still waiting for her to get called in.

She started fidgeting with her hands and started looking nervous.

"Are you not feeling well?" I asked.

She looked at me, first with a snide look then it softened as she asked

"Look, I'm not that good with hospitals and doctors, I know this will sound weird cause you don't really know me but will you come in with me?".

"Sure" I said. It was the least I could do. Plus, with all my head injuries from lacrosse, I was pretty much a pro at this routine. She probably had a concussion just because of where she had been hit.

"Well! It's a concussion!" Said the doctor. "Based on the point of impact and bruising, and the fact that you blacked out. You're going to need some ice and someone to wake you up every two hours tonight, just to be safe" finished the doctor.

"Great" she murmured. "I get hit in the face with a hard plastic ball and I can't sleep through the night," said Santana with a roll of her eyes.

I felt horrible. This wasn't a good start for anyone's weekend.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Back in the car, Santana was on the phone with her friend Quinn.

"Yeah, I know. I have a huge black eye...no, it's not sexy in anyway. Look, can you sleep over tonight or what? Serious? Fine. Enjoy your date." She ended her call.

"So, you're going to Quinn's?" I asked, not sure where to drop her.

"No, she has a date and probably won't be coming home...even though she's head of that religious club." The last part she huffed under her breath.

She looked upset, I didn't know what else to do.

"You can stay at my place for the night. I can wake you up." Were these words coming out of my mouth? I could hear myself asking the hottest girl, in my school, to come home with me but I couldn't believe it.

" No, I don't want to put your parents out. Thanks though" she said.

For all the terrible rumors I heard about this girl, she looked absolutely vulnerable right now. The guilt was building by the second.

"I actually live by myself. It's really no problem at all."

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"You live by yourself? How old are you?" She questioned.

"I'm seventeen, my parents and I don't really get along." I didn't really want to get into the story, sitting out front of the hospital.

"So, should we stop at your place and get your stuff?" I asked, hoping she would just go along with it. She did. Ten minutes later, I was standing in the foyer of her Lima Heights home, waiting to carry her bag for her.

"Is your girlfriend going to be okay with you spending the night at my place? I don't want to...step...on any toes" I was hoping to find out more about her relationship. How solid they really were.

"No, she's pretty trusting that way" she yelled from her bedroom.

Moments later, she came out carting three bags.

"I thought you had to be watched for just one night?" I asked looking at all her luggage.

"I do. This is just one nights stuff, you don't want to have to drive back over do you?"

She had a point and with that we headed for my place.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

She was pretty quiet on the way to my place. The doctor had given her some pills for the pain that she had taken before packing. Finally, she broke the silence, "how are you liking McKinley?" She asked.

"It's alright. A lot like my old school, just better sports."

"Is that the only reason you came to Lima? Sports?" She asked looking out the window.

"Um...yeah, for the most part. Getting away from my parents was just an added bonus," I said staring out at the road.

She studied my face, probably about to ask what happened with my parents when I pulled up outside my apartment.

"How do you pay for your own apartment?" Santana inquired, while lifting a bag from the trunk.

"I work after school usually and weekends. My Gramma helps me out a little too. We're super close. Watch your step," I explain as I opened the door and lead the way up the seven stairs to my loft.

"Sorry about the mess, I didn't have time to clean up," I murmur. Not that my place was overly messy, I just started to get a little nervous as she took in my place.

"I like it. It's very cozy." She smiled, looking over at the kitchen.

"Um, I can make us some dinner if you want, if you want to grab a shower? Not that you need a shower. I just figured..."

She cut me off with a laugh, "relax, will you, a hot shower sounds amazing after my day."

"Yeah, did I mention how sorry I was about that?" I said again.

"Yes, you have several times, get over it" she laughed again, "least this black eye wasn't from something I started". I laughed, nervously.

"There are towels in the closet behind the door, otherwise just yell if you need anything else."

We smiled at each other and she started off towards the bathroom. I watched her walk away, unaware that I was starring until she shut the door. She doesn't seem like the "bitch" everyone makes her out to be. Maybe that person was just a front at school? I wondered.

I opened the fridge, empty. Not that it mattered; I can't cook to save my life. I looked at the closed bathroom door and quickly ran back down the stairs, quietly shutting the front door behind me.

I ran into the Italian deli next door.

"Hey Tony! How fast can you whip up the usual, times two?" I asked the owner.

"Ehhh Jamie!" He smiled. "Times two eh? You got a little company, do ya?" He winked at me, laughing.

"Ya, something like that." Tony was the nicest guy I had met since moving to Lima. He never said he was but I knew he secretly watched out for me. Which was comforting to know. He was like the Godfather, only less scary and a little more round. He pulled up two bags on the counter and said "just the usual".

"Tony, I got two this time, it can't be the usual."

He smiled, "it's not very often you have two...just hand over the usual" he said with another wink.

I smiled, "I'm new, what can I say, I'm working on it" I said, handing him the usual payment with a large tip.

"Thanks Tony!" I yelled as I ran out the door and back up to my apartment.

I was relieved to see the door still shut. I grabbed two plates and began dishing out the salad and wraps from the containers. Then I threw the containers under the sink, I'll throw them out later. I finish setting out the cutlery just as Santana emerged from the bathroom. She looks stunning. The comfy track pants are quite different from the short cheerleading outfit. Her wet hair was off to one shoulder, dampening her t-shirt.

"Hey" she smiles as she pulls up the stool next to the island where I had set up dinner.

"H-hey" I stammer, feeling myself blushing and not really sure why. Pull it together, I remind myself.

"This looks really good" she says plucking a cranberry from her salad.

"Are you sure? I can whip something else up? I wasn't sure what you liked," I offer but I'm hoping she doesn't disagree, as the only thing in my cupboard is a box of Mac n cheese.

"No, this looks amazing. Thanks."

"Can I get you a drink?" I ask opening the bare fridge once again. "I have milk, water, juice".

"Waters fine, then come sit with me and eat, I'm starving" she said laughing.

I grab the waters and sit across from her at the island.

"So..." She says. "Want to play twenty questions?"

This could go many ways I think to myself.

"Okay, you first" I said, as I took a bite.

"Favorite color?"

"Orange, favorite band?"

"Coldplay" Santana answered right away. I laughed a little, "Really? Pegged you for more of a One Direction kind of girl" I said.

Scoffing and with her mouth full "oh yeah, because they're oh so dreamy with their boyish good looks!"

I laugh, "Yeah I guess you're more of a spice girl fan..."

She looks right at me very seriously, " how did you find that out?"

"Oh...um...I, I just..." I stumble all over my words.

She bursts out laughing, "would you relax! Are you always this uptight?"

I lean back, "well, your reputation kind of precedes you".

She leans back as well, "what have you heard? She asks curiously.

"Pretty much that your a bad ass and not to be messed with."

She nods her head and smiles "good to know I still got it." She takes a sip of her water, for the second time I see the vulnerability she rarely wears on her face. She quickly covers it with the next question, "Where'd you move from?"

I look at her for a second knowing where this is going. "Louisville, well just outside."

"Why Lima?" she continues.

"My school councilor told me if I wanted to go to college the best way would be to work my ass off and earn a scholarship. She mentioned McKinley would be my best chance, so here I am" I explained.

"Your parents didn't try to stop you at all?" She asked. When she saw my hesitation, she went back to her dinner apologizing "sorry, I don't mean to pry."

I looked at her for a second; she doesn't seem anything like what I've heard. But then again, I guess that's the problem with rumors, they're rarely true.

"No, that's okay. When my parents...found out...I was gay, they didn't take it very well. They gave me an ultimatum saying I "straighten" up or to get out" I said laughing at the actual pun my parents had used.

She smiled, "how could they do that?"

I took the last bite of my wrap and got up to put my dishes away, "just different generations I guess. Plus, it probably didn't help that I didn't tell them face to face." She raised her eyebrow, "how did they find out?"  
I smiled "my mom kind of walked in on my girlfriend and I getting our mack on." She didn't say anything, just smiled a coy smile.  
"Yeah, my point exactly. Anyways, I knew who I was and I knew that it wasn't going to change. So I talked with my councilor, made the necessary changes and found this place."

"And you're just okay with it?" she shrugged.

"I'll never be okay with it, but I'm not going to let their close mindedness hold me back, I have goals for myself, I'm hardworking and I have support from the rest of my family. I'm doing okay for myself, I think."

She smiled again and reached for my hand as I reached in to take her empty plate.

"You're pretty amazing," she said. My skin burned underneath where her hand lay on my arm. She pulled away and spun around on her stool to take in the rest of my apartment. Which was good, because I definitely needed a second to pull myself together.

"This place is great. Where is your bedroom?"

I walked over to the wall and flicked a switch for the light up in my bedroom. "It's above the bathroom."

"How do u get up there?" I laughed at her wide-open eyes.

"There's a step-ladder to the left," I explained. "Are you tired? Do you want to head up?"

"No I was just curious. That's awesome. I love it here. Want to watch a movie or something? She asked, grabbing her water and heading to the couch. I followed, grabbing an ice pack and towel for her eye. " You should probably put this on your eye for a bit".

"Wow, I actually forgot all about that, does it still look bad?"

"Noooo... not at all" I said trying not to laugh.

"Did you just lie to me?" She said, as she playfully slapped my leg.

Her phone buzzed on the table.

"Sorry, it's Brit"

"Go for it, I'll put the movie on" I moved away to put a DVD in. I heard her greet her girlfriend on the phone.

"Hey...I'm okay, just a little black eye" I looked back at her and she stuck her tongue out at me. "No, I went to the hospital and...you don't want to hear what they said?...okay, I'll text it to you...yeah...bye". She ended the call and put the phone back in the table.

"She had to go, her crew was waiting to go out for the night," she stated crossing her arms.

"Oh, she didn't ask what the doctor said?"

"She said to text her the info," she laughed, with another eye roll.

"How long have you been together?" I asked, trying not to sound nosy.

"Almost a year, officially, but we've been best friends since as long as I can remember."

The movie started and we settled in. After awhile she stretched her legs out so her feet were against my leg. I tried not to think about it.

I couldn't even explain the movie if I tried, I was so wrapped up in my thoughts about this beautiful girl, sitting next to me, on my couch, about to spend the night. That I didn't realize she was talking to me.

"Jam? Hey! You okay? Geez, you'd think you were the one who got hit on the head". She laughed, as she got up from under the blanket she had wrapped around her.

"I think I'm going to get ready for bed."

"Okay, use whatever you need in the bathroom."

"Thanks." She smiled and headed towards the door. I went to the closet to get new sheets out and climbed up to my room. Just as I was climbing down she came out.

"Hey" I said.

"Hey"

"So, I changed the sheets and its all good, ready when you are."

"Are you not going to bed yet?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to lie some blankets on the couch and brush my teeth."

"You don't have to sleep on the couch, I don't want to kick you out of your own bed" Santana started for the couch, I gently caught her arm as she went by, " I think after everything today, I can give you my bed".

She giggled, "It's really that bad eh? Good thing it's Saturday, tomorrow"

I smiled and she headed up to bed.

"So...I'll see you in two hours?" I called after her. She turned and smiled "Yeah, that sounds about right. Night!"

"Night, Santana".


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It had been an hour and forty five minutes and I still hadn't been able to fall asleep. My mind was racing. The hottest girl in school was in my bed. Granted, I wasn't sleeping in THAT bed, but she was still in there. She wasn't anything like the rumors. She was sweet and funny. She helped put the dinner dishes away and thanked me for dinner. She is probably one of the only people I know who actually uses manners. Is she always like this? Maybe people only discuss her bad days.

The sound of "marimba" coming from my phone brought me back. I have to go check on her. I turn off the alarm and head to the kitchen for a glass of water. Walking up the stairs I'm rehearsing how this could go down.

Just give her a little shake, tell her you brought water, and head back down. I pause at the top stair; the glow from the TV outlines her body. I can see her hair sprawled out over the pillow and her hand gently resting against her cheek. She is absolutely stunning. I move closer and sit on the side of the bed. Trying to be subtle, I reach for her shoulder and lightly nudge her.

"Santana" I whisper. No response.

I say her name again and shake her arm. Nothing. I stand up and turn on the light.

"Santana?!" I say in a louder voice.

"Hey, wake up, I brought you some water."

I watch her stomach to see if it's moving. It's not. I'm starting to panic. I move closer and take her face in my hands.

"Santana?!" I'm reaching for my iPhone; it's not in my pocket. I look down on the coffee table.

"Dammit" I say and take off running. I jump down all the stairs and when I reach the table I hear laughing and clapping. I whip around to see Santana sitting up in bed.

"Good job! Although, I was getting worried what was taking so long! But the jumping off the stairs really did it for me!" She says while still laughing. I can only stare at her while she talks. I'm doubled over, hands on my knees, trying to bring my heart rate to a normal level. She gets up and comes down. She's changed into pajama shorts and a tank top, a sight that isn't helping my heart rate. She goes to the kitchen and brings out a glass of water. I look at her. She nudges my chin with her fist and says "if it's any consolation, I completely trust you with my life now".

I can't help but laugh.

"I don't think I have ever been that...panicked, in my whole life!" I finally say. She's still laughing.

" I couldn't fall asleep, I was lying here watching your TV and I was just starting to dose off when I heard the alarm. I couldn't help myself," she said, pushing me towards the couch. We both sit and focus on the image on the screen.

"Did that just happen?" I think to myself. That would have been hilarious had it been anyone but me. I laugh under my breath. "I can't believe that just happened," I say. She looks at me with a big smile. "I hope you know I'm not doing it again in two hours!" I warn her. She starts laughing again.

"You have to!" She states. "Doctors orders."

We keep watching whatever cartoons are on TV, both our feet up on the ottoman, sharing a blanket.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I wake up a few hours later, still on the couch but this time, my feet are on the couch and Santana is lying against me with a leg draped over mine. Her arm is across my stomach and my hand is on her back. This would have been an awesome way to wake up any other time, except she had a girlfriend.

"Santana?" I shake her a little and she wakes. She grumbles, " I thought you weren't going to do that again?" She rolls over, pulling my arm around her.

"Hey, let me help you up to my bed, you'll be more comfortable there."

She groans again, "but I'm super comfortable right now."

I lie back down, pulling the blanket up around us. I feel her curve into me. I probably have never been so comfortable. I fall back asleep almost instantly.

At 5:30am, I wake up and shimmy out from under Santana. I run upstairs to get my work stuff and make a quick stop in the bathroom to brush my teeth and throw my hair into a ponytail. As I'm slipping into my sneakers, I get a thought that maybe I should leave her a note incase she's awake before I get home. I find a pen and paper in the kitchen and write:

Hey Santana,

I left for work at 6. I'll be home by 2:10. Help yourself to whatever. If you need anything or a ride, Tony my neighbor said he'd be happy to give ya a lift.

Jamie :)

P.s call me if you need anything

"Wow, that's a cheesy note." I say under my breath.

Work goes by surprisingly quick. I haven't heard from Santana so I assume she is still sleeping or left. I forgot to mention that I had a shift in the morning and didn't want to wake her. I unlock the door and step inside. It's super quiet. I step up the couple stairs and see her still sleeping. I can't hide the smile that appears on my lips.

I slip back out to Tony's.

"Hey Tony! How about some breakfast sandwiches?" I holler to the back. Tony appears from the back.

"Sure thing kid! Two? One for your overnight guest?" He says with a smirk.

I laugh and shake my head.

"Yes please. And she's only a friend! You told me to make friends! So there you go!"

He tosses me two breakfast sandwiches and tells me "on the house!". Apparently he can't get enough of the huge smile on my face. I've tried to hide it.

I walk back into my apartment and head to the kitchen to grab plates. When I return to the couch Santana is rubbing her eyes.

"Ugh, forgot about that" she says as her hand connects with the puffy underside. "What time is it? Are you dressed?" She asked, looking confused.

" Oh, look who made it through the night! " I say, making her smile instantly appear.

"I had to work at 6, I forgot to mention it last night and didn't want to wake you". I hand over her plate once she sits up.

"This smells awesome. You didn't have to make me breakfast, I think I've bugged you enough" she says, taking a bite.  
I smile, loving the fact that she thinks I keep cooking for her, that will be a surprise for later, also making a mental note to throw away all food containers.

"It's been no bother at all. I had a fun time. Minus my little heart attack at 2am."

She laughed again. I got up to grab some coffee.

"So, do you have plans for today?" She called to me in the kitchen.

"No, was going to have a lazy day because the weather is kind of crappy out" I inform her.

"Really? That sounds fun. Like a track pants and movies kind of day, maybe I'll stick around a little longer, hide out here, if you're okay with it?" she probed.

"Absolutely, that sounds amazing. Your eye is looking better, by the way" I said as I returned to the couch holding to mugs of coffee.

"Yeah, its not as sore as last night. We should go get snacks and drinks before we start, that way we don't have to leave later" she suggested, taking the hot mug from me.

"Yeah, that sounds good, I just want to jump in the shower before we go. Give me fifteen minutes?" I asked.

"Perfect, that will give me time to change and find my extra big sunglasses" she smiled. I took off to the bathroom for my extra cold shower.

Once we got back, the rest of the afternoon included movie after movie, snacks, and a blanket. It was summing up to be the best day I've had in Lima so far. We put on four movies but only watched about two. We would get talking about nothing in particular. Santana asked me about my old girlfriend.

"Why did you guys break up?" She asked.

"I don't know, Louisville is kind of far and I don't think long distance at seventeen is doable" I replied. "That, and she dumped me when she found out I was leaving. Something about abandoning her," I added.

"You're kidding" Santana exclaimed. "Your parents kicked you out yet she's the one with abandonment issues? Sounds like you dodged a bullet on that one".

I laughed, shaking my head.

"So how serious are you and Brittany?" I asked casually.

"Pretty serious, I guess. She's my best friend so it makes it a super easy relationship" she explained.

"That's good to hear, you guys planning on going to the same college after high school?" Trying to sound interested when you know you don't have a shot in hell is difficult.

"I don't know if I'm going to college yet, we haven't really talked about it, I guess. But we'll probably definitely be together" she said looking down at her hands.

"Probably definitely eh?" I teased. "Aren't you super smart? Why wouldn't you want to go to college?" I went on to ask, wanting to know more about her.

"Well, I have big dreams and I want to be famous. I feel like the only way to make that happen is to be in New York."

My mouth could have dropped but I feel like I kept my smile in place. New York? That's quite the dream. I always find myself in awe of others who want something so bad they do anything to get it. Santana seemed like that type of person.

"Well I hope your dreams come true" I said.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The rest of Saturday went as planned; it was lazy and spent in track pants. Sunday came and again, I snuck out in the morning to head to work and came back just as Santana was waking up. She received a phone call from her mother not long after, letting her know they were on their way home and she was expected at Sunday dinner. We lounged around a little more before she packed up and I drove her home. She thanked me for helping her out this weekend and said she looked forward to hanging out again sometime. This fact scared me a little considering it would probably be with Brittany. I'm just hoping I'll be able to control this goofy smile that always seems to appear around her girlfriend.

Sunday night ended with me cleaning up and finishing homework. Sunday's were always my homework days. I had to be ahead because with lacrosse practice everyday until 5pm and work until 11pm, I rarely had time to think let alone focus. I really need this lacrosse scholarship; I just hope all my hard work pays off.

Monday comes and I'm kind of excited to get to school and hopefully see Santana. I wasn't sure how I would approach her again, until, I found her tank she must have forgot. As I'm walking up the stairs into the school, I'm definitely in my own world. I almost make it to the doors before I hear her, "hellllloooo! Earth to Jamie!" I look around and find Sugar and Marley right next to me on either side. "Are you new to the cell phone party? I've been texting you all weekend, I thought for sure Santana attacked you when she woke up!"  
I shake my head laughing at her "uh, no, I had a pretty good weekend. Just busy I guess." As I check my phone and see one message I had missed from last night.

From Sugar M.  
Hey Jamie! Hope Santana didn't go too  
Lima Heights on your ass. See you tomorrow.  
Sug xxx

"I missed your one text message that you didn't send until last night. What if she had gone Lima Heights, not that you wimps were there to have my back or anything" I ask.  
Sug and Marley look at each other. Then Marley asks, "So what did happen?"  
Oh no, I think, here it comes again. That stupid smile when I think about her. They've noticed. They're looking at each other and smirking.  
"Oh ya! Out with it!" exclaims Marley.  
"Really guys? Nothing happened. For one, she has a girlfriend. For two, a trip to the emergency room is exactly romantic and three, not much can happen after that when she had a concussion." I explain.  
Wait, they're looking at each other again. What did I say? I didn't give anything away. Did I?  
"What?" I ask, hoping they're just glad to see me.  
"What could happen after the hospital if you guys weren't together?" Marley asked with her smirk growing by the minute.  
"It was nothing. Her parents weren't home and Brittany was away. She had no one to wake her up during the night." I tried to rationalize.  
"1. Brittany was away. 2. During the night? 3. She spent the night? 4. Shut the FRONT door!" said Sugar, getting louder with every word.  
I could feel my face getting more and more red by the second.  
"You guys are reading into it. Nothing happened. I'm going to class, I'll see you at lunch" I said, as I practically ran away to class. That's all I need, Brittany hearing some rumor that will be much more exaggerated by the time she hears it. Come to think of it, the only thing I've heard about Brittany, besides the fact that she is the luckiest girl in school, is that she's huge.

School seemed to drag all day. I didn't mind though, my mind was anywhere but. I couldn't get Santana out of my head. Finally, as I started running the track after school for practice, it came to me. I would respect the fact that Santana had a girlfriend. If I could get away with being friends, that would be good enough for me. As if the world was sending me a huge wake up sign, Roberta, the biggest girl on our team ran right into me with her lacrosse stick. I don't know how that happened. One second I'm thinking about Santana, the next, I'm flat on my back gasping for air. Coach Beiste was by my side in a second. She was probably the best coach I've ever had. She helped me up, trying to get me to catch my breath. "Maybe you'd be best to sit this one out sport!" she suggested. I couldn't. I couldn't miss a practice, what about the scouts? "I…can't…coach" I managed to get out between gulps of air. She shook her head, "Listen Punkin, you've been killing it out here everyday, one day off won't hurt" she said. As I tried to protest, she looked at me and smiled "don't make me bench you, that will really throw a wrench into your day". Knowing she was right, I headed off to the locker room. My ribs were killing me. As I was headed to my locker to grab my books, I rounded the corner and ran right into Santana and another girl.  
"Hey, watch it!" Santana exclaimed. I sank down against the locker, holding my ribs.  
"Oh my god, she's going to die!" exclaimed the girl next to Santana. "Quick San! Give her CDR" she went on. Santana knelt down realizing who it was and put her hand on my shoulder. I am going to die I thought. I can't breath and she's touching me.  
"Are you okay? What happened to you?" Santana asked, looking concerned, which in a weird way made me happy.  
"Yeah, I'm good. No worries" I lied, hoping to sound better than I felt. "Just a little run in during practice."  
"Are you going to make it? Do you need a lift home?" She asked, helping me up.  
"Uh, San, mom says not to talk to strangers and this one looks like she's about to croak, and you know what mom says about zombies so…" Santana shook her head as she smiled at this girl. Maybe it was the pain or the nausea but I couldn't put two and two together. "Jamie, this is Brittany, my girlfriend" she introduced. Oh shit, I thought. I straightened up, looking at her. Huge? What the hell was huge about her? So she's a couple inches taller than me, I could probably break her in half.  
"Jamie? Hey? Maybe I should get the nurse." Santana was looking at me.  
"No, I'm good. Really. Sorry, it's nice to meet you Brittany" I said, as I extended my hand. Brittany took my hand and gave it a hard shake. My ribs that were bruised before felt like they broke after that. I muster up a smile and head to my car. Santana follows me out.  
"Hey, sorry about Brit, she sometimes goes off on rants" she smiles.  
"It's all good. She seems nice" I said. Santana smiles again, I would do anything to see that smile.  
"Are you sure you're going to be okay? You don't look so good" the look on her face shows the other side I'm sure not a lot of people see at school.  
"Absolutely, just a little knock. No big deal, I'll see you tomorrow" I lied, I didn't want to leave her but I was sure I looked like a baby sitting in my car. Just as I was about to leave, Santana reached into my car through the window and grabbed my phone from the cup holder. She played around with it before saying "if you need anything, I mean anything, call me, I'll come right over" she said, handing me my phone back. "But don't call or text while driving. It's not safe," she reminded me. I had no words. Did Santana Lopez just give me her number? I couldn't breathe again.  
"Thanks" I manage.  
"Text me when you get home, I'm a little worried" said Santana. I nod and start my car. When she's back in the school, I punched my fist in the air and then immediately remember why shouldn't have. But nothing can wipe the smile off my face now!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Being smoked by stick came at a good time. I needed time to look over my college applications. When I got home Monday evening, I text Santana to let her know everything was okay. We've clicked together pretty fast. It was different having someone worry about me. Besides Tony, I didn't really have anyone out this way. That was why getting into Louisville University was so important. I would be able to stay closer to my Gramma. I missed her. We talk on the phone every Wednesday. She loved coming to my lacrosse games. She's my biggest fan. I wish she could be here Thursday for our big game against Carmel High. Coach Beiste said there would be scouts at this one. Just thinking of scouts at the game made me freak. It would have to be my best game yet.

Wednesday morning came; we had an early morning practice. At 6am, I'm stretching on the field with my team. With all the games we've been playing and time we've been spending together, we've become like a second family to one another.

Everyone was talking about our big game tomorrow.

"It's going to be crazy! The stands will be full just because the rivalry between the schools and then to have the scouts coming from all over," Exclaimed Marley.

While I was happy to hear how excited everyone was, all the talk was making me even more nervous. Thankfully, Coach Beiste came out at that point and got the drills started. It was the toughest practice yet, by 7:30am half the team was puking on the sidelines. We kept pushing through drills for another fifteen minutes before Coach pulled us into the huddle.

"Listen up ladies! Tomorrow's game is going to be one of the last, biggest games of the season. I know how well you guys can play, we just need to keep our heads in the game and our eyes off the scouts," Coach looked at me as she said this. "We're going to go out and play like it's any other game, it's our house, and it will be our win!" We cheered as Coach finished her speech. "I'll see you guys after school for regular practice! Good job today, hands in! McKinley on three! 1-2-3..." she counted.

"MCKINLEY!" We shouted as a team, before we all headed off to the showers and classes.

"Jamie!" I heard Coach Beiste call me as I was packing up my bag. I ran over to her even though my legs were still burning.

"What's up Coach?" I asked.

"I just wanted to see where your heads at for the game tomorrow. I know you have a lot riding on this game and those scouts, but we need your leadership and focus tomorrow." She said as she gave me a pat on the shoulder.

"I know Coach, I'm ready. I just want to get out there and leave it all on the field," I tell her.

"Good, you'll be great kid! You got some special coming to the game tomorrow?" She asked.

I think about my texts with Santana.

**Santana**: I wouldn't miss it! I'll be there with my best Pom poms!

I look at my coach and I can feel myself start to smile. "Just some friends," I say. "My Gramma is too far away. She'll be listening to it though! She never misses a game," I explain.

"That's awesome! Hit the showers! I'll see you this afternoon," she says.

"Thanks Coach" and I head off to the locker room.

I'm just getting out of the shower with my towel when I look up and see Santana leaning over the mirror in her towel. I feel my cheeks go red. I can't do this! Sharing a blanket with lots of clothes was hard. But naked with a piece of terry cloth?! That's a whole new level. I try to sneak by her without her noticing me.

"Hey stranger! I didn't think you guys had early morning practice?" She says as she is applying mascara.

"Um...we...I," I'm trying to get words out but they're not coming. "Big game tomorrow" I finally blurt out, trying to keep my eyes anywhere but on her.

"Right! Should be good! I can't wait to watch you guys pummel Carmel. Those bitches!" She says with her wicked smirk.

"Ha. Yeah, can't wait! Anyways, I should go, class, school and stuff" I murmur.

She laughs, "you feeling okay? You look nervous," she asks.

That's because I'm about 5 feet away from the most beautiful girl in school, in a towel and she wants to chitchat like we're having teatime.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just some butterflies for tomorrow, I'm glad you'll be there though," I say, finally getting some kind of composure back.

"I wouldn't miss it. I actually love watching you, I mean you guys, play." She stumbled. Wait; did she just say she liked watching me play? She looked down and started fiddling with her makeup bag.

"Want to meet up at lunch with us?" Santana asked.

"Yeah, that would be awesome. I'll see you then." I say, she smiles and I turn to go.

When I meet up with Santana and her friends at lunch, Brittany is practically sitting in her lap and she's feeding her carrots. They make me jealous and want to puke at the same time.

"Hey Jelly!" Says Brittany. I look at her.

"What?" I asked laughing.

"Your name means jam doesn't it? But I like Jelly better," she explains.

Santana laughs and rolls her eyes, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend.

Sug and Marley eventually joined us. They started discussing glee things, which I had forgotten most of them were in.

Lunch went by fast and before we knew it, we were back out in the field running drills. I got home with a couple minutes to spare and made my quick phone call to Gramma. She wished me luck for tomorrow and I told her I'd score her a goal. I said goodbye and headed to work.

That night once I got home I was exhausted. I went right to the shower and let the hot water fall over my achy body. Finally, I got out, grabbed a bowl of cereal and flicked on the news.

"On a lighter note," said the local anchorman; "McKinley High takes on Carmel High in what sounds to be one of two biggest games of the year in girls lacrosse tomorrow. We'll have all the action here on..." I had stopped listening. Were we going be on TV? Not only do we have scouts coming but now we're also going to be on TV. Crap. I felt sick to my stomach with nerves. I turned the TV off and headed to bed. I tossed and turned for the first two hours before I finally settled into a deep sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

***Hey guys, thanks for the reviews. I'm loving Jamtana, still trying to decide to go with it or keep Jamie on the sidelines. Gotta love the classic Brittana. I'm glad you like the story. I'm enjoying writing it.**

"What is that?" I mumble, as I roll over to look at my alarm clock: 6:24am.

"Why? Why is someone at my door at 6:24 am?" I whine, looking for a shirt. I stumble around in the dark, no shirt. Oh well, I think, sports bra and track pants, no less than a bathing suit I rationalize. I walk to the door, where someone has banged on it once again reminding me they're still out there. I open the heavy door to find Santana. She's holding breakfast in one hand and coffee in another. She looks like she's been crying.

"Wow," she says, as she tries to stop giving my body the once over. "Happy game day, I thought you could use some breakfast."

I smile, "breakfast sounds good," I say and ask her in. We walk over to the kitchen in the dim glow of the early morning. I flick on the lights; when I turn back to Santana she gives me a weak smile. I'm horrible with crying girls. Why is she crying? I start to unwrap the food.

"Um, look," I said, trying not to make eye contact, "if you're upset because of the food, I can explain, I can't cook. I was smuggling food in to feed you from the deli, it was for your own good!" I finish, smiling as she finally started laughing.

"I knew you were hiding something," she said quietly but with a smile.

"Seriously, I never wanted you find out this way," I explain, struggling to keep a straight face as I pull out the bag of old food containers that I've been waiting to throw out on garbage day.

She's laughing again. That smile is enough to make my day, maybe even my week. Why would someone do anything to make it disappear?

"Thanks for making me smile," she says, as she takes a sip of her coffee. I sit down again across from her and cradle my coffee in my hands.

"Why wouldn't you be smiling at the crack of dawn?" I ask gently.

She shook her head as a tear escaped down her cheek. I handed her a tissue.

"Brittany and I had a fight last night" she explained.

"Oh, that's shitty. What happened?" I asked, not sure if I should. But then again, she must need to talk about it, why else would she be on my doorstep at 6:30am?

"I went over to her place to talk about college applications and it was like she didn't care at all," she paused, wiping her cheek and taking another sip of coffee.

"I just didn't understand, doesn't she want us to go away to school together? Doesn't she think about our future together?" She asked me.

"Maybe she was just overwhelmed by it all, college applications are stressful," I suggested, nodding my head at my own pile.

"I'm sorry, I showed up here and Debbie downed your morning, I just couldn't lie in bed anymore," she apologized.

"Don't be it, it's totally cool," I said.

"No, it's game day and you should be excited and I'm here crying," she continued.

"Hey, I'm glad you came. You're always welcome and I'm always here if you need me," I said as I walked around to give her a hug. Her arms fit perfectly around my bare waist, her head on my shoulder. I pulled back and she slid her hands to my waist.

"Thanks," she said.

"Always," I replied. "I'll throw these in the oven to warm them up, then I'm just going to run to the shower," I said holding up the breakfast she brought.

"Perfect," she smiled.

When I emerged from the shower in my towel a few moments later, forgetting my clothes upstairs, Santana had moved to the couch and had flicked on the TV.

"Hey, did you know tonight's game is going to be televised?" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I heard last night, right before I got an email from Coach saying we all have to wear our Sunday best!" I hollered back.

"I don't know about everyone else but my Sunday best includes track pants and a hoodie," she said as I walked a back down.

I looked at her sitting there watching the news, "that's exactly what I said." She stood and turned to come eat breakfast, she said "holy damn".

I looked at her again, "what?" I asked.

"You look amazing," she said, taking in my black dress pants, with a tight fitting white button down. I had thrown my fitted blazer over the chair.

I laughed, "get out of here, it's dress pants and a shirt and its all I've got here."

"Well, I'm serious, it looks great," she states.

I can feel myself blushing and smiling as I slide her breakfast to her and we sit down to eat.

"So, are you nervous?" She asks.

"Absolutely," I say, without even thinking. "I'm kind of glad you came over this morning, once I finally fell asleep, I just kept dreaming about running up and down the field and wiping out in front of the scouts."

She reached across the island and placed her hand on mine, "you'll be amazing, stop worrying," she said.

"Thanks," I reply, looking into her gorgeous brown eyes.

She gets up to put her plate away and takes mine as I eat my last bite.

"Should we go?" I ask. "I could use another coffee run before school," I say, as I struggle to adjust my blazer.

"Sounds good to me," she answers, as she comes to help me. She pulls my collar up and fixes it to fit with the jacket. Then, as I'm straightening my sleeves, she undoes a couple buttons from my shirt.

"There, Santana approved," she says, with a wink. I smile at her, shaking my head. "Thanks again for this morning," she tells me, still standing in front of me.

"Thanks for breakfast," I reply, realizing for the first time that I'm slightly taller than her. She pulls at my jacket and walks to the door. My heart is racing.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

My day had been going pretty well. Breakfast with Santana, exemptions from homework from teachers, I was almost on cloud nine. The fact that the butterflies in my stomach had grown three sizes and were making me crazy was the downfall. I met up Santana and Brittany again for another fun-filled lunch. Today, Brittany was sure the new kid, who was apparently a clone of someone named Mercedes was checking me out. I, however, am pretty certain that wasn't the case. Just before we were getting up to leave, a girl I had never seen before tapped my shoulder.  
"Hi, I'm Tatum. I think I've lost my phone. Do you mind if I borrow yours for a second?" the brunette asked. I looked up at her; she was pretty with golden green eyes and a cute smile.

"Sure," I said. As I reached for my phone, I looked over at Brittany who was giving me the thumbs up, then to Santana, who looked a little less impressed. Tatum used my phone to send a text and then handed it back to me.  
"Thanks," she said with a wink and a smile.  
"Anytime," I replied, as I leaned my elbows on the table, and turned my head to watch her walk away. When I returned my attention back to the table, I had on a confident smile that quickly disappeared when I saw Santana's expression. Brittany on the hand, looked like she just won a million bucks. This made me chuckle as I checked out my phone. I clicked my messages button to find a message sent to a random number.

555-303-1314 : I love watching you play, maybe you can teach me sometime?  
Good luck tonight, I'll be cheering from the stands.  
Tatum xox

My mouth drops. But is quickly replaced with a chuckle as I look over my shoulder to see if Tatum was still around. While I was checking out the crowd, Santana reached across the table and grabbed my phone.  
"Oh really? The 'sly text to hand out my number' trick? That's not very original," she said with a bit of a sneer.  
"It was kind of hot," I said, trying to get a little more attitude out of her. She looked at me with a look of repulse.  
I laugh a little, "she's a looker too" says Brittany. This makes me laugh more. Santana was still not convinced. We finished lunch and headed to the rest of our classes.

After school, we had a light practice that involved a short run, a couple drills and some final plays. As Coach was finishing up, the camera crews were arriving. This really got the nerves shaking. I went into the locker room to shower and redress. As I was coming out of the locker room, Santana called my name from behind me. I turned and saw her in a slightly different Cheerios uniform. This one included a black long sleeve t-shirt and her hair was down around her shoulders.  
"Wow, you look amazing," I said, as I looked her up and down.

"Thanks," she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "We're going to get something to tide us over until after the game, want to come?"  
"I'd love to, but its almost game time. I think I'm just going to hang around here and toss the ball around, I have to calm my nerves some how," I reply.  
She shivered and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Okay, want me to pick you something up?" she asked. I took my jacket off and handed it to her. She smiled and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"No, we have some snacks in the locker room. Thanks though," I said, nodding in the direction of the girls' locker room.  
"Okay, well, I should go so we can get back before the game starts," she said, looking down at her feet and then back to meet my eyes. I nod. She takes a step closer to me; I can smell her perfume. It makes my head swim a little. She presses a kiss to my cheek and slides my jacket off to hand to me.  
"Keep it, hopefully I can see you after the game to get it off you," I say, with a hopeful smile. She puts it back on and grins as she turns to walk away.  
"Don't you already have a date? With Tatum?" she calls back over her shoulder. I shove my hands in my pockets. Is that jealousy I heard as she sneered the girl's name at the end? I laugh quietly and head to the change room.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I have music blaring out of my phone and into my headphones as I am bent over tying up my cleats. My nerves aren't as bad. I stand up and reach for the rest of my equipment. I pull off my t-shirt to put on my rib pads and shoulders pads before throwing my jersey on over top. Marley, who is sitting next to me, nudges my arm. I look at her and take out a headphone.  
"I'm so nervous right now. I think I'm going to throw up," she says with a look a pure fright.  
"Don't be. It's going to be fun. It's just another game. Only this one has huge lights and a camera crew. Ain't no thang," I joke, trying to make her smile. It works a little but she is still nervous. Coach Beiste walks in.  
"Okay ladies! Buckets on! Let's get out there and get warmed up!"  
I throw on my helmet and put my mouth guard in. I grab my stick and get ready to head out. The announcer, JBI, is getting the crowd amped up. We're about to run out on the field when JBI announces "And here are your McKinley Titans!" The crowd erupts into a crazy frenzy and we take off onto the field. After warm ups, both teams are huddled around their benches. We're listening to Coach Beiste give her pep talk. As she talks, I scan the crowd. There are camera people all over the sidelines, but next to them are the cheerleaders. I find Santana and we lock eyes. I give her a quick wave and she waves back with a pomp pom and behind her I see Tatum, she returns the wave as well.  
"Uh oh," I mumble.  
"Jamie, you have something to add?" asked Coach. I'm brought back to the circle and shake my head. I take one more look into the crowd to see if I can track down the scouts. The thing about scouts is they don't look like scouts, which is probably for the best.

Coach Beiste puts her hand in the middle and we follow "1-2-3."  
"MCKINLEY!" we all shout.  
I put my mouth guard back in and slide my helmet back down. We take our spots on the field and the game begins. It's a pretty even match, the action is moving easily up and down the field. Marley has the ball and makes a quick pass up to me. I burst up the side of the field with Marley right behind me. I fake a shot and pass to Marley, who snaps a shot pass the goalie. We score and the crowd goes wild! The team catches up to us and we celebrate together. There is ten minutes left in the first half. Carmel is in possession. I catch up and try to knock the ball, but its too late she's already taken the shot. Sugar makes a crazy save, but the rebound is picked up and they score. The score is 1-1. Seven minutes left in the first. Minutes go by, the game is close and tensions are rising. More and more fouls are being called with occasional penalties. Finally, the horn sounds to end the first half and the score is 6-5 McKinley.

As we head off to the locker room, a girl from Carmel shouts to Marley, "you better watch yourself string bean!" Marley looks at me, but I'm too busy trying to get the girls jersey number, Seventeen. "What did I do to her?" she asks.  
"Who knows, you probably bumped into her," I say. Before we duck into our room, Santana catches my eye. She smiles at me and sticks her tongue out. I start laughing and watch her head out for their half time routine.

Back out on the field for the second half, the draw starts the game. Roberta wins it for us and Marley is running up the field. Our other forward attacker is right with her; I'm running behind Mar and that's when I see the other girl. Number seventeen is running straight at Marley. Marley makes a quick pass to our attacker and Seventeen lifts her sticks and brings it crashing down onto Marley's forearm. I could hear the crack from my position. Seventeen crosschecks Marley to the ground and the sound that came from Marley is a mix between a horrible cry and a scream. The crowd is silent. Seventeen is standing over her, smirking. Before I know what's happening, my gloves and helmet are off and I have my fingers wrapped around the cage of Seventeen's helmet. I wrench her helmet off her head as her fist collides with my right eye. I tackle her to the ground, my knee lands in her ribs and she's calling me every name in the book. Before either of us can make another move, both Umpire's are pulling us off each other. Red cards are being thrown everywhere. The crowd is going in insane. I look around and see Marley still on the ground, holding her arm. I want to go to her but the Umpire is still holding me.

"You're both out of here!" snaps one of the umpires. I stop trying to pull away and look at him.

"What?" I exclaim. "You can't do that! She attacked her!" The Umpire raises his hand and Coach Beiste is by my side.  
"She was only protecting her team, how can they get the same call?" asks my coach. The umpire looks at her and points his finger "back to your bench coach before you're out as well," he says.  
"What? This crazy!" Beiste states. She pulls me back to bench and tells me to sit while everything calms down. There's only a faint buzz from the crowd as a medical team is tending to Marley. She's taken off the field on a stretcher. The umpire calls both coaches to the middle of the field. I can see Coach Beiste arguing with the umpire. All I can think is this can't be happening. This is my one chance and I let my anger blow it. I'm hoping the umpire changes his mind to a penalty but by the way coach is arguing, it's not looking good. Roberta comes over with my gloves and helmet.  
"I know you probably don't want to hear this right now, but if I was Marley, I would be damn proud that I had a teammate like you who wasn't afraid to stand up for me," she says.  
"Thanks Roberta," I reply. But I can't take my eyes off the middle of the field. They disperse from the middle and Coach Beiste is heading back. Time is standing still it seems and I can feel the blood running down from my eye brow.  
"I have good news and bad news," Coach Beiste starts, "Our goal counts, but uh, we're loosing two players for the rest of the game. Marley's being taken to the hospital and Jamie," she hesitates, "you've been suspended."

Suspended. The word just echoes in my head. Suspended? I can't be suspended, if I'm suspended from the game, I'm suspended from school. Everything is spinning.  
"You have to leave the bench Punkin. I'm sorry, Jamie. I know you were just standing up for your teammate but they have the final call. We will appeal it right after the game," says the coach as she leads me in the direction of the locker room.  
I leave without saying anything. The shock I feel is incredible. The walk from the bench to the locker room only fuels me with rage. By the time I enter the locker room, I'm livid and my hands are shaking. I heave my helmet across the room. I'm pacing back and forth. There's still blood running down my face, I probably look crazy right now. I punch a locker.  
"That make you feel better?" I hear from behind me. I turn around and see Santana.  
"No, I can't believe this," I shout, "I just blew my shot a scholarship! I'm suspended." Santana looked at me, "it could be worse," she says, not understanding the seriousness of it all.

"Worse? I'm suspended! That means I'll be suspended from school! It'll go on my record and I'll never get into college," I explain, probably more harshly than needed.  
"Shit. I didn't realize," she apologizes.  
"I know, I'm sorry," I say quietly, taking my first long, deep breath since leaving the field. She crosses the room to take my face in her hands.  
"You're bleeding, let me get a first aid kit," she breathes, as she sets off to find one. I sit on the bench and can hear the crowd reacting to the action just outside.  
Santana returns sits in front of me on the bench.  
"This will probably sting but its best to clean it and get the Carmel grunge out of you," she warns. I just nod my head. She applies the alcohol swab and she's right, it stings like a bitch. I just clench my jaw and don't say anything. Santana cleans up the cut and sticks some sticky sutures on it. Then she wraps an ice pack and hands it to me.  
"You're face is starting to look like my eye," she informs me. I laugh a little and she smiles.  
"Thanks," I look into her eyes.  
"No problem," she whispers. We start to lean into each other but before anything can happen, one of my teammates walks in and Santana stands up.  
"Jam, Coach wants you to dress and come watch the rest of the game. She says it will show good sportsmanship and hopefully change the call," relays the defenseman.  
"Thanks, I'll be right out," I state, while looking down. She heads back out to the field.  
Santana looks at me, "sorry, that was inappropriate."  
"It was my bad, it won't happen again," I assure her.  
"I better get back out there," she says, heading to the door.  
"Yeah, me too." I say.  
I head for the showers and moments later, I'm dressed and standing in the background as I watch my team take down our rival.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I'm sitting in the locker room with my head in my hands as my team walks in. We won, but you'd never know it. Coach gave her talk but I wasn't paying attention.

I start listening when I hear Marley's name.

"Her mom text me to let me know she's doing okay. They're just waiting for X-rays and will know more after that," Coach Beiste explained.

"Other than that, it was a good game ladies, hit the showers and I'll see you tomorrow for practice."

I got up to leave; if I was suspended I wasn't allowed in the locker room with the team. As I was leaving, Coach Beiste calls me into her office.

"Have a seat Jamie," she points to the chair facing her desk. I sit down.

"Look, I don't condone fighting, you know that. But considering how far the other team went, I don't agree that you should get the same punishment. I'm going to call the committee now and see what happens. I'll call you tonight to let you know if you can be at school or not tomorrow," she says, as she struggles to make eye contact with me. I sigh and push a piece of hair out of my face.

"Thanks Coach," I say as I get up to leave.

"Jamie," Coach calls, I look back from the door, "it's one game, and I would have done the same thing. Don't let it get you down."

I nod and head out to my car. As I'm walking out into the dark, my head is down and my hands are in my pockets, I just want to go home. But by the time I get home, I'm filled with more anger and disappointment. I put my car back into drive and head to the hospital.

I stopped to pick up coffee for everyone considering they had already been there for a couple of hours. Marley was in the middle of getting a cast molded to her forearm. She had a fracture in her right radius. Her eyes were puffy from crying and she looked exhausted. I waited until they were done so I could drive them home.

When I got home, I found my cell phone I had forgotten all day. I had two missed calls from Santana and a text.

**Santana: Hey Jamie, so you beat that bitch up, we'll get through it. You still kicked ass. I hear you tricked your hat! Call me if you need me. **

I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and head over to the couch. I flick on the TV. The first thing I see is a clip from tonight's game. It's Marley and Seventeen; they play it over and over again. I turn the TV off and head to my room, as I'm about to take the first stair my phone vibrates on the table. It's probably an email from Coach Beiste. It's not. It's from Santana.

**Santana: Hey ho, glad your feeling better. Hope your date with Titum went well. **

I read the text twice, what's she talking about. I sent her a text back to find out.

**Me: What are u saying? What date? And it's called a hat trick when someone scores three goals.**

I throw my phone on my bed and change into comfy clothes. I head back down stairs to the bathroom to brush my teeth. As I step out of the bathroom, I hear my phone ringing. I run to catch it hoping its Coach.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey" I hear Santana's voice.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask, not really wanting to be on the phone.

"Nothing, you don't sound any better after your date. Didn't Green eyes show ya a good time?" She asks.

"I didn't see Tatum after the game," I say, a little confused.

"You don't have to lie, I don't care if you date her. I came by your place to see if you were alright and you weren't home," she explains. I smile to myself, she was checking up on me.

"I was actually at the hospital. I went to see if I could help Marley and her mom."

There was a long pause and then a sigh.

"Oh, how is Marley?" Santana inquires.

"She fractured her radius, she'll be in a cast for four to six weeks," I repeat what the doctor had said.

"Oh, that's crap, so no more lacrosse for her then," she assumes.

"Yeah, I guess not. Least she's only a sophomore, she still has time," I say, wishing I could say the same for me.

"Well, I guess I'll let you go. I'll see you at school tomorrow?" She asks.

"I doubt it, I think the suspension will hold up," I tell her.

"So they give you a day off? Isn't that a little backwards? Maybe I can come by after school then, is that cool?" She asked.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," I said. I hear a beep and look at my phone; it's Coach. "Hey, Coach is on the other line, so I'll see you tomorrow?" I ask.

"Yeah, sounds good. Don't worry about things okay? You kicked ass today," she said.

"Thanks," I say, as I click over to my other line.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey punkin," said Coach, using her trademark catch phrase.

"Hey Coach, good news or bad news?" I say, getting to the point.

"Both, bad news first, you can't come to school tomorrow. We have a meeting with the committee to fight your case at 11am," she explains.

"That doesn't sound promising," I said, as I sit down on my bed.

"Well, you just need to keep a positive attitude and take it one step at a time," said Coach Beiste.  
"Sure, easy for you to say," I reply.  
"Get some sleep kid, we'll get this whole thing sorted out tomorrow." With that she hung up and I was left lying in my bed with nothing but my thoughts.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I tossed and turned all night. Finally, at six am, I got up and decided to head out for a run. I grabbed my keys and iPod and headed off towards my normal route. There are so many things running through my head. While I know that I still have a shot with the scout, I know I have to get over this suspension. I'm running through my thoughts and I had stopped paying attention to the pathway and tripped over someone who had stopped to tie their shoe. As we both lie on the cement, I reach over and grab my keys that had fallen out of my pocket and sit up.  
"Well, I'm glad that was you that knocked me over because that could have been embarrassing," says the figure, which had fallen back in the bush.  
"Santana?" I ask, standing and holding out my hand. She takes it and I help her up.  
"Who else do you know that is up this early?" she says with a laugh.  
"I don't know anyone who is up this early, usually I'm in bed too," I say, sitting on a bench.  
"Couldn't sleep again?" she asks.  
"Yeah, apparently I have a meeting with the council this morning. If they hold this suspension seriously, I might not be able to play in the finals in two weeks. That's my last chance with the scouts," I explain. She nodded and looked down.  
"Um, I guess while its just us around, I should apologize again for yesterday. I didn't mean to over step our boundaries. Emotions were just running high and it got kind of crazy. I would never want to do anything that would come in between you and Brit," I explain.  
"I totally understand, I would never do that to Brit either, nothing would have happened," she says.  
"Of course not," I agree, as I look into her soft, brown eyes. Of course not? How could I say that? I want to kiss her again, right now. I look away.  
"Well, I better, uh, finish my run and get ready for this meeting," I murmur and stand up, trying to gain some composure.  
"Yeah, for sure. Are we still going to hang out after school?" she asks. There's no way I can hang out with her alone right now. I hesitate, thinking of an excuse, but nothing comes. Like I said before, I'd rather have Santana as a friend than nothing. So what's the next best option?  
"Um, I forgot I have to work until nine, but why don't you get everyone together and we'll have a mini party at ten, my place?" I suggest, trying to figure out how to be close to her without actually being close to her.  
"Sure, sounds good. I'll let everyone know," she smiles and turns to continue her run. I watch her run away before heading home. Friends, I remind myself, we're just friends.

That morning at the meeting, I wasn't actually allowed inside. Coach Beiste summarized what sounded to be the most boring hour in history. She explained that the committee went over the videos from the game and understood the point she was trying to present. However, they stated, that they could not let the violence I demonstrated go unpunished. Therefore, I was given a one game suspension, which would not affect my schooling, while Seventeen was given a five game suspension that included staying home from school. I considered myself lucky and promised Coach Beiste that I would work harder to control my actions during the game. I was able to attend my afternoon classes and even picked up homework that I had missed in my morning periods. After school, as I was unable to practice with the team, I went and prepared for this mini party I was about to host. I cleaned up my apartment and picked up some food from Tony, warning him that it may get loud, then headed to work.  
I couldn't think about much at work. I was about to spend the next however many hours playing hostess to who knows how many people. Surprisingly, work went by pretty fast and I was rushing home to shower and get ready before I knew it.  
Just as I was buttoning up the last couple buttons on my shirt, there was a knock at the door. I flicked on some music and headed to the door. Santana was front and center. She was wearing a black and blue-striped dress, with a short leather jacket over top.  
"Wow, you…you guys look great," I catch myself. I step back and invite them all in and as the usual lunch table arrives, I realize there are more people filing in. There are guys who I don't recognize. They kind of remind me of the seven dwarfs. The tall one is dopey for sure; he introduces himself as Finn Hudson. I think he expected me to know who he was but it just didn't come to me. As the rest keep coming in, I find Santana.  
"Who are these people?" I ask her.  
"Oh, I thought it would be okay to invite the glee club too. Some of them are in serious need of a party," she said, looking around. "Oh, and there's one more person who I'd like you to meet," she continued. As I turned to meet her gaze, I see the girl from lunch the other day.  
"Jamie, I think you've met Tatum, Tatum, this is Jamie. She's the badass lacrosse player, who has no problem throwing down for her teammates," Santana introduced me. I rolled my eyes and stuck out my hand. If I needed to be distracted, it might as well be with a pretty girl. I throw on my best smile and say, "it's really nice to meet you again, did you find your phone?"

Tatum laughed, "yeah, funny thing, it was in my backpack the whole time."  
I looked at Santana before I walked Tatum over to get a drink. She didn't look overly impressed but at this point there wasn't much either of us could do.

The party went off really well. With a couple glee kids were being a little awkward, once the drinks and games started they eased right up. We ended up playing spin the bottle, when my turn came I gave the bottle a quick spin and waited to see who the lucky person was going to be. All I could think about was having it land on Santana. That would give me the perfect excuse. But at the same time, I don't think I would be able to hide that I wanted more than once kiss. While I was wrapped up in my thoughts, the bottle had stopped and making her way towards me was, Brittany.  
"Pucker up Jelly! This is going to be your lucky day," she exclaimed. I couldn't help but laugh with everyone else; she grabbed the collar of my shirt and pressed her lips against mine. I had never played spin the bottle before but I was pretty sure this kiss exceeded game play. I definitely understood why Santana would not want to mess that relationship up. Brittany was one hell of a kisser. Britt pushed me back to my seat and made her way back to hers next to Santana, who was laughing along with the rest of the group. I shook my head and continued watching the next couple of rounds with a smile on my face. After the game broke up, I was leaning against the island talking to Sugar when I felt a hand snake up the back of my shirt. I turned around to see who it was and found Tatum. She was looking a little tipsy, so I wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her onto the stool in front of me. I stepped away to grab a glass of water and Sug yelled over the island, "have fun", I laughed and when I returned to the stool Tatum said a quiet thanks for the water. We were talking about school, when she grabbed my hand and led me over to the stairs to my room. I looked around and caught a glance of Santana and Brittany making out on the couch. I decided to follow Tatum up. When we reached the top, she was still holding my hand and led me to the bed; she pushed me down and straddled my legs. She wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned in for a kiss. Her lips were soft and gentle, as she carefully began to push harder and harder against mine. Soon, my shirt was undone and she was lying on top of me as we continued to make out. Her kisses became more fiery as her tongue snaked in and out of mine, before I knew it her hand was at my belt. I stopped her by placing my hand on top of hers. She stopped kissing me. "Is everything okay?" she asked.  
"Yeah, everything is perfect, but I just remembered I have to work in the morning and should probably be getting to bed, I wouldn't want to rush anything," I said, trying to think on my feet. She looked at me, disappointed.  
"Okay, I'm okay with taking things slow," she said with a devious smile. As she sat up to fix her hair, she asked if I would walk her out to meet her older brother who was picking her up. I agreed as I was doing up some buttons and she took my hand. By the time we came back down, the party had died down to just a few. It looked like Brittany and Santana were asleep on the couch, which I was kind of thankful for and the rest were playing some video game. I opened the door and helped Tatum with her jacket. By the time we said goodbye and she had given me one last kiss, her ride was out front. I watched her get into the car and gave her a quick wave. As I was shutting the door and turning around I heard,

"Well? How was that?" I jumped a little at Santana's voice.  
"It was good, thanks," I said, stepping around her and laughing a little.  
"What were you two doing up there?" she asked. I laughed again, as I walked to the kitchen to get some water.  
"I don't know, talking. Who are you, Inspector Gadget?" I said, looking at her funny.

"Well, I was just wondering since when shirts got unbuttoned when talking?" she said, as she looked at my shirt. I looked down to see that I had missed a button and my shirt was now lopsided. I laughed a little harder and she gave me a sly smile.  
"Don't do anything too crazy," she said, as she made her way back to the couch.  
I shake my head and make my way back up to my bed. It was two in the morning and I wasn't lying when I said I had to work in the morning. Don't do anything too crazy? What does that mean? I thought to myself. Why are girls so complicated? I went to bed wondering.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Whoa! This last batch of reviews has been fun to read! Did I sleep through my last chapter? I'm pretty sure Brittana was sleeping on the couch?! Also, not sure what this Santana/OC fic is about, I'm not trying to double up. Is there a character like Jamie on the OC? I might have to start watching. Anyways, loving the reviews, thanks for the support and suggestions. One 'no me gusta' moment was bound to happen; it's one of my favorites!**

I woke up at the crack and struggled to get ready in the dark with a huge headache. When I came downstairs, everyone was still sleeping; including Santana and Brittany who were still tangled up on the couch. I crept into the bathroom and snuck out the door. By the time I came back at two, my apartment was clean and almost everyone was gone. I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Hey," I murmur, still feeling the effects of last night.

"Hey," they said in unison.

"You guys didn't have to clean up, thanks though," I said, coming to sit in the chair next to Santana and Britt. I wrapped a blanket around me and cuddle up in the chair.  
"It actually wasn't that bad. Just some cups and leftovers," says Brittany, as she continues to flip through the channels.  
I tossed my phone out of my pocket and onto the table. We decided to throw on a movie. The girls were cuddled up on the couch under blankets and I was curled into the chair. After a half hour into the movie, I fell asleep. Four hours sleep and an eight-hour shift don't add up well together. My phone started ringing.

"Jam," Santana whispered, "hey, jam". She grabbed my phone to see who was calling. It was Coach Beiste. She knew the coach through glee club, she answered.

"Hey Coach, it's Santana... yeah, she's sleeping though, she had an early shift...okay, want me to wake her...Oh, okay...really? Holy damn. Absolutely, I'll tell her as soon as she wakes up."

Santana's voice had stirred me; she was on the phone. Was she on my phone? I yawn and ask her, "was that for me?"

"No, I decided to make some long distance calls while you were sleeping," she looked at me with her sly smile. I smile back at her.

"It was Coach Beiste. Someone was trying to get a hold of you," she explained.

"Why? What's wrong? Something with my Gramma?" I ask, suddenly panicked. I stand up and start looking for my keys.

"Wait, wait, sit down," Santana says, grabbing my arm and bringing me back to the chair.

"I'm sure your Gramma's fine," she started.

"What do you mean you're sure she's fine, you don't know?" I ask, getting more freaked out.

"Would you let me finish? Damn, it's like being in a room with Berry," she says, Brittany laughs.

"Coach got a phone call a little while ago asking about you...and your lacrosse skills," she finished, giving me time to let it soak in.

"A scout?" I ask, unsure.

"Yeah, a scout," she says, with a huge smile, "it's not the scout from Louisville, but it's still a scout! He's from Kentucky U, said he was impressed by your game the other night and wants to see more. He agreed with Coach Beiste that it was an unfair call."

My mouth is open in shock. I can't believe this. It's happening! Things are starting to fall into place.

"I-I can't believe this," I stammer, "I thought my shot was over, this is crazy!" I jumped up on the chair. "This is freaking bananas! I can't believe I've been scouted!" I jump down and hug her! She's laughing. Brittany stands up and gives me a high five. "Way to go! I was scouted once, turns out I wasn't the baker everyone thought I was," she explained. We just laughed.

"We should celebrate! You should come to sectionals tonight. Then we'll all have something to celebrate afterwards," Santana said, opening up the invitation.

"Okay, sounds good," I said, calming down a little.

"Perfect, they're at school tonight at seven pm. TroubleTones are going to kill it. It'll be different to not have to share the stage with that bumbling clown. Anyways, we should actually get going, we have to be at the school for four," Santana said as she started gathering their things.

"So, I'll see you tonight? Seven o'clock sharp?" she asked again.

"Yeah, I'll be there front and centre," I say, with a chuckle. I haven't seen Santana sing since my first day at McKinley. I didn't know who she was at that point but I haven't forgotten her voice. Why haven't I heard her sing since? The more I thought about it, the more excited I got to hear it again. Not to mention, the kids from glee weren't all that bad to hang out with. They both gave me a hug goodbye and left holding pinkies.

I text Marley and Sugar to let them know about the scout, they were both super excited. Coach Beiste had called Marley to see how she was doing and mentioned that the scout had his eye on her as well. She was excited to hear the news but bummed she was side lined for the rest of the season. It did give her some hope for next year though. As I was talking to them I mentioned that I was going to drop by the school tonight to watch the glee competition. Marley was able to still compete; she was just restricted from the trickier dance moves. While I was texting the girls, I realized I hadn't shared my good news with my Gramma. I gave her a call and let her know. She was so excited for me. She said it was for selfish reasons though; she just wanted me closer to home. I made plans to go visit and realized I had to get ready. I said good-bye to Gramma and let her know how much I loved her. She told me how proud she was of me and said she'd see me soon.

I ran next door to see Tony. "Hey! Tony! Guess what?" I said, with a huge smile.  
"Eh kid! No idea," he answered. He started preparing sandwiches while he listened to me explain my day. He looked at me when I finished, "you're really starting to find your place here, huh?" he said, with a bit of a smile.  
"Yeah, it's not turning out so bad," I replied. He threw me a sandwich and I dropped a five on the counter for him.  
"Eh! Fugget about it!" he said, emphasizing his Italian accent. "It's on the house for your big day! Have fun tonight!"  
I laughed and started out the door, "Thanks Tony! I'll see you soon!"

Back inside my place, I smashed back the sandwich not realizing it was the first thing I had eaten all day, then jumped in the shower. As I was getting ready, my phone buzzed. It was a text.

**Santana: I'm soooo nervous.**

I smiled to myself as I read it. Who knew Santana Lopez got butterflies? I definitely knew she gave me a serious case of them whenever she was around me.

**Jamie: Don't be. You're going to kill it. You'll be awesome.  
Look for me in the crowd, you can picture me in my undies ;)  
Lol, better not, I'd hate to distract you, break a leg!  
**

I finished getting ready and pulled out my favorite sneakers. This was already a good day, but I could feel that it was going to be an extra great night.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

After running a couple errands, I made it to the school at 6:40pm. I bought my ticket and made my way to the auditorium. The place was packed. There were people everywhere. No wonder Santana was feeling nervous. I was feeling nervous. As I was walking to my seat I saw Mrs. Rose. I stopped to say hi.

"Hey Mrs. Rose, how are you?" I asked.

"Oh, hey Jamie! I'm so nervous for them. They've just started this new club. They don't have the experience," she said.

"It's a new club? With Mr. Shue?" I asked. I had no idea we had two glee clubs.

"No, this one is all girls with Mrs. Cochrane," she said.

"All girls, huh?" I said with a nudge to her arm.

"Oh, easy now!" She said with a laugh.

Just then the lights dimmed and the announcer spoke.

"I better find my seat, I'll see you after the show Mrs. Rose," I whispered and took off to my seat. The announcer introduced the judges. I took my seat. The judges included someone from the DMV, a judge and some wanker clown. I don't understand this competition but the first club took the stage. They were called The Unitards. Their front girl was intense. She looked into the crowd and it looked like she was trying to see into people's souls. It was kind of scary. I was kind of glad I couldn't front and centre seats. I wouldn't want those ice cold eyes on me. Just as I was getting my second shiver, my phone vibrated in my pocket. A text.

**Santana: Front and centre looks empty without you :(**

I smiled as I read it and text her back.

**Jamie: Sorry, I tried. Will you settle for front and right?**

I hit send and a moment later I saw the curtain from the side move. Santana stuck her head out; she smiled when we made eye contact. It was only a second later and my phone buzzed again.

**Santana: Feelin better now, get ready to have your MIND BLOWN. **

I was trying to stay quiet as I read the text but my laughter subtly escaped. The lady next to me gave me a dirty look. I put my phone away and got ready for the next performance.

"And now, the Trouble Tones!" Bellowed the announcer. The next thing I knew, the girls were on the stage in their shiny and surprisingly short dresses. Then, there was her voice. Santana started singing and it was amazing. They started dancing and spreading out on the stage. The music switched and the song changed, Santana and Brittany and the rest of the girls had paired up in a tango. The crowd went crazy, people were up and dancing in the audience. The energy in the room was insane. The song ended and the girls fell to the ground. Santana and Sugar had the biggest smiles on their faces; it was hard to not be smiling with them. Marley looked like she was bursting with excitement. The song ended and the crowd was standing with applause and cheers.

The girls ran off stage. I saw Santana steal one last glance towards the audience before disappearing behind the curtain.

Minutes later, the New Directions were on. They had a triple set filled with MJ classics. There wasn't as much energy with these guys, but Tina was killing it.

After a short intermission, the judges and all three groups were on stage. Third place went to the Unitards; their name probably didn't help them. It was between McKinley's two glee clubs. The drum roll began and second place was given to: The Trouble Tones! New Directions was first. I couldn't take my eyes off Santana. Her excitement was shining through her eyes and in a second it was gone. It was as if someone had just blown out the show choir candle. After watching the New Directions celebrate for a while, the audience began to clear out. As I was being driven out into the lobby, I took one last glance at my friends, they haven't moved. The disappointment was all over their faces. Eventually, the lobby cleared out. I made a trip to my car while the crowd dispersed. I came back in and was sitting on a step just outside the doors to backstage. The clubs began to come out and head out to celebrate. Last to come out of the theatre was the Trouble Tones. Sugar and Marley came out first.

"Hey guys, sorry about the loss tonight, tough judges," I say, trying to make them feel better.

"It doesn't make sense, we made the crowd love us with one song, New Directions needed three," said Marley.

"I should have just got Daddy to buy the judges, oh, speaking of Daddy, there he is. Bye girls," said Sug.

"Your mom told me to let you know she'd meet you in the cafe. You were awesome out there. The bedazzled cast went really well with your dress" I said, smiling at her sparkling cast. As I was saying goodbye to Marley, the rest of the girls came out. But I still hadn't seen Santana, which was weird because I saw Brittany; they were usually attached at the hip. Maybe I had missed her. I hugged Marley and went to look backstage. When I got to the back, I saw her. She had her head in her hand and was leaning against the make up mirror. I stepped to the side so she could see my reflection.

"That was amazing," I said. She jumped a little; she must have been deep in her thoughts. She looked up and smiled.

"I can't believe you're still here, I figured after that mess you would have left," she said, with a bit of a sniffle.

"And miss seeing you up close in that dress, hells no," I said, taking a step closer. I held out flowers I had picked up before the show.

"I thought you were awesome, consider my mind blown. Reminded me of the first time I saw you in the choir room on my first day," I said, blushing at how cheesy that sounded.

"Really?" She said, brushing a tear away. "When did you see me?" She asked.

"I was walking to practice, I think, and I heard singing. When I got there it was you and some other girls. Looked like fun," I explained.

"It is, want to join?" She said, with a bit of a laugh.

"Uh, no. I'll keep my seat in the audience, you don't want to hear me sing, its almost as bad as my cooking," I assured her.

"Looks like we won't be celebrating tonight, I'm sorry, " she reminded me of our earlier plans.

"It's all good, it's only a phone call anyway," I said. "What are you waiting for back here?"

"I just needed a second, I really wanted this," she said, as another tear came to surface.

"I thought you were great," I said.

She turned and threw her arms around my neck. I returned the hug and stepped back. Just a friend hug. Friend hug. Friend hug. I reminded myself. "Can I give you a ride home?" I asked.

"Yeah, that'd be nice," she said, as she linked her arm through mine.

On our way to Santana's we stopped at the Lima Bean, Santana had text Brit to let her know we were going to grab a coffee and see if she wanted to come but she said she had to have a surprise intervention for Lord Tubbington.

When we finally made it to Santana's, I walked her to the door. Before she stepped inside she turned to thank me for coming tonight and driving her home.

"Anytime, I thought it was really good. You look gorgeous," I said.

She laughed, "Stop, you're just trying to make me feel like less of a loser."

It was my turn to laugh, "Honestly, if I could have voted, you guys would have been my number one for sure."

She sighed and gave me a hug.

"Drive home safe," she said. I started, down the walkway. I turned around one last time, "Hey," I called out, "Mind. Blown." I said.

"Night Jamie," she said with a laugh.  
"Night."


	16. Chapter 16

Access 16

The next week went by pretty fast. I wasn't able to attend any practices until our game on Thursday. I ran the track and threw the ball around to keep up with the team but I missed being around the girls on the field; one more day. In the mean time, the girls from the Trouble Tones were asked to rejoin the New Directions. That put a little pep into all their steps. They had started rehearsing together; they sounded awesome back together. After school, I went for a run and headed home to get ready for work. As much as work gets in the way, it's nice to get a break from high school and it really isn't all that bad.

I was just getting home from work and unlocking my door, when I heard running coming up from behind me. Before I knew it, I was being pushed through my door and onto the floor. I got up and moved to turn on the lights. When the lights came on, I was not expecting to see Santana and Brittany on my floor in their Cheerios outfits and black leather coats. They were huffing and puffing, completely out of breath.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, rattled from the scene.

"So let me get this straight, you guys just threw down… with songs… in a creepy underground parking lot over who can sing MJ at regionals?" I asked, trying to make the story they just told sound less chaotic.

"Yeah, it was insane. Then when we finished, they tried to attack Kurt with a slushy but Blaine dove in front of him and took it in the face," said Brittany.

"But it wasn't any slushy," said Santana, standing up and beginning to pace, "there was something in it. Rocks or something, they wanted to hurt Kurt."

"This is crazy. You guys are in show choirs, not fight club. How is this happening?" I said, shaking my head.

"This shit is for real. We don't take it lightly," said Santana.

"So what are you going to do now?" I wondered.

"Well, they took Blaine to the hospital and we came here, so there's not much anyone can do until we all see each other tomorrow," said Santana.

The next day at school, everyone from glee club was raging. I had heard from someone in Spanish, that Blaine had to have surgery on his eye. This was out of control.

When I met up with the girls at lunch, Santana, Brit, Sug and Marley were all talking about how to get the Warblers back. Their plans were getting crazier by the second.

"Why should we sit around and let the system work itself out? The Warblers are going to get away with it!" said Marley. I've never really seen Marley get angry, she was kind of cute. I shake my head and keep listening. By the end of lunch, it sounded like they were going to dig a hole that the Warbler boys could fall into.

I left the table and headed to my next class, when Tatum caught up with me.

"Hey you," she said with a wink, "walk me to class?"

"Sure," I smiled. She linked her arm through mine.

"So I haven't seen you around much since your party. Everything okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine, thanks. Just busy, I guess," I replied.

"Seems like you've been avoiding me," she went on further.

"No, not all." I reassured her; honestly, I don't know why I haven't seen her. Well, maybe I kind of know a reason. Every time she asked to hang out or I thought of hanging out with her, Santana would call. Something's, you just don't need to think out loud, I say to myself.

"So can we see each other after school then?" She asked.

I hesitated.

"Look, I really like you, I'm not like the other girls," she said, sounding a little hurt.

"It's not that I don't want to, we have a game after school. I want to be in the stands; that's all. Want to join me?" I asked.

She smiled, "Sure, sounds fun. You can tutor me on the game."

"It's a date," I said. She walked into her classroom and found her desk. She gave me a wave before I left. I like Tatum. She was interesting to be around, seemed like she was normal enough. So what was my problem? She just isn't Santana.

After school, I meet up with Tatum and we walked out to the field together. I saw Sugar warming up and Marley next to her on the sidelines.

"Hey guys, you remember Tatum," I asked. They both snickered.

"Of course we do," said Sug. She looked at me and winked. Sug is my wing girl, but sometimes she really isn't as subtle as she could be.

"Anyways, we're going to go get seats, hopefully the rain holds off, good luck today," I say, looking at them.

"Thanks," says Sugar, laughing.

"We miss you down here," says Marley.

"Miss you guys too, one more game," I remind them.

We head up to the stands. The sky looks like it's getting darker and darker. When it does start to rain, it's probably going to pour. I look over at the Cheerios, neither Santana nor Brittany are there. That's weird; they don't usually miss games. Stop. I remind myself, you're here with Tatum. I look at her. She seems excited and interested. The game is about to begin and we start discussing the rules of the game.

There's about four minutes left in the first half, McKinley is up four to two. Tatum and I are having a good time; she keeps leaning over and touching my leg. It's getting very flirtatious. My phone rings, trying to be polite and respectful to Tatum, I ignore it. Thirty seconds later it things again. I ignore it once more and apologize. I put my arm on the back of her chair and as I try to restart our conversation, my phone rings again.

"Sorry, I'll just be a second, it must be important," I get up and walk to the top of the stands.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hi Jamie, its Mercedes, Santana's friend from glee club," I hear on the other end. She sounds weird.

"Hi, you were at the party right?" I say, trying to match a face.

"Yes, I was. Listen, have you heard from Santana?" She asks.

"Not since lunch, why what's up?" I ask, wondering why she would think I would know. Shouldn't she call Brittany, her girlfriend?

"She was supposed to meet me before her game and I can't get a hold of her," she explains.

"Oh, well she's not at the game either," I inform her, checking to see if I missed her among the other cheerleaders. Not a chance, she always catches my eye.

"Here's the thing, we think she may have gone to Dalton to confront Sebastian, the one who hurt Blaine," Mercedes went on to say.

"Wouldn't Brittany have gone with her?" I asked, trying to put the prices together.

"Britt left school early, she has an out of town dance competition again this weekend, she hasn't heard from her either," said Mercedes, her voice getting a little more hectic.

"Why would Santana go alone? She has to know those guys are unpredictable," I say, getting concerned that she's up there by herself.

"We're kind of worried but none of us have cars," she says, dropping a hint.

"You're worried? They wouldn't hurt her would they?" I ask, starting to panic.

"It's like you said, they're unpredictable, we didn't think they'd try to hurt us the other night either," she reminds me.

"I'm on my way, I'll call you as soon as I hear from her, you do the same," I say, starting down the stairs.

"Okay, should someone go with you?" She asks.

"Probably, but we don't have time to stop and pick people up. I'll talk to you soon," with that I hang up and find Tatum.

"Everything okay?" Tatum asks, seeing my face.

"No, something has happened to Santana, I have to go get her," I tell her. She doesn't look impressed as she gets up.

"You're always going after her, you know she has a girlfriend right? I'm right in front of you," she says, a little louder than needed, as she stomps off. I didn't have time to chase after her and explain. I took off to my car in the other direction.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**This was fun to write, listening to Smooth Criminal over and over. Thanks for the reviews guys, I'm glad you're still enjoying it!**

As I'm running, it's starting to rain. By the time, I reach my car I'm soaked. I get in and take off. Dalton was ten minutes away. As I'm driving, I try to call Santana through my stereo Bluetooth. It rings for a while, no answer. Dammit. The machine picks up. I hear her voice; this gives me an uneasy feeling. I push it away and leave a message.

"Hey San, it's me. Call me back as soon as you get this, don't go into Dalton alone. Those guys are crazy."

I should have known she would try something like this, she's been super angry since the night Blaine was hurt. I splash through a huge puddle as I pull into Dalton. I'm running through the parking lot, as soon as my car is off. I get inside and it's eerily quiet. I start scanning the halls for people. No one. I'm starting to feel like an ass for rushing here not knowing for sure. Maybe she had a dentist appointment. Then I hear them, I look around the corner and see the guys talking. I wait a second to see if I can hear anything about Santana.

"Should we put money on this?" One of them asks.

"She plays on his team, he's not coming out of this any straighter, she'll kick his ass before anything else happens," says another one. I sigh; guys are idiots. They must be talking about Santana. I doubt any of them have girlfriends. I look around to see how many of them are there, five. I take a breath and step around the corner. They stand when they see me.

"Where is she?" I ask, not wasting time.

"Who?" They say in unison.

"Look, I'm not here to play games, I just want to pick up my friend and we'll go. Where is she?" I ask again. They all take a step closer to me.

"And are you her girlfriend?" One of them asks.

"I don't see how that matters, where is Sebastian?" I say, letting my voice rise a little.

"He's busy," says the tall blonde.

"If he puts one hand on her, I swear-" I start.

"You swear what? You're going to take on all of us? She came here uninvited," says another tall boy, looking upset.

"You put her friend in the hospital, what do you expect? You know for a school that prides itself on honor and dignity, you all seem to be lacking it," I say, trying to sound more confident than I feel. I start to walk pass them, figuring Santana and Sebastian are in the room the boys are blocking the entrance to. They move in front of the door and two move behind me.

"Let me in there, I don't want to start anything, but I'm not leaving without her," I inform them.

"They're having a battle," says the short one.

"A what? There's music," I say, not understanding what they're talking about.

"It's a battle through song," he starts to explain, as he's talking, I hear Santana. I can't tell if she's singing or screaming through the heavy door. It scares me though. I decide to drop my shoulder and run at the two guys blocking the door. I knock them down but by the time I reach the door, the big blonde has my arms behind my back. I struggle to break away, he lifts me off the ground but I manage to step on his foot. I see the short kid pass something through an open door. The tall blonde lets go of me and I run to the door knocking the small guy down. I enter the room as I see Santana reach for her face. I can't tell what is happening because the guy I assume to be Sebastian is in the way. My mind goes into to overdrive; did he just hit her? Did he grab her? He's hurt her so it doesn't matter, I'll kill him. I rush at Sebastian, but the damn blonde giant grabs me again.

"What is wrong with you?" I yell. "You son of a bitch!" I look back over at Santana; she's covered in red. For a split second, I think its blood. Then I realize she's trying to get slushy out of her eyes. She looks upset. I just want to go to her. I elbow the blonde in the stomach; he yells and lets me go. I reach Santana and pull her towards me just as a faculty member comes in.

"What's going on here?" He demands.

"Nothing, we were just leaving," said Santana. She grabs my hand and pulls me with her. I look back once more at Sebastian, he has that annoying smirk on his face. I try to walk back over to him but Santana doesn't let go of my hand. We don't say a word until we reach the car.

"Are you okay?" I finally ask.

"I forgot how painful it is to get a slushy in the face," she said quietly. She's sitting in my front seat covered in slushy and rain; she's shivering. I reach into the back seat and grab my lacrosse sweater and towel.

"Here, you should take that stuff off, you're soaked," I say, handing her the towel.

"Thanks," she says quietly. She starts to take her jacket off; I turn and look out the window. I hear her wrestle around with her clothes and finally hear "okay".

I look back at her; she has a tear running down her cheek. I reach for her face and brush the tear away.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to you in time," I said. She finally looks right at me.

"Don't be, none of this is your fault, I just couldn't sit around and let these guys get away with what they did to Blaine," she says, looking down into her lap.

"You shouldn't have come alone," I said gently.

"I know, thanks for coming to get me though. You're always taking care of me," she said, looking at me again.

"Mercedes called me, she was worried," I admit.

I finally see what she's holding in her hand.

"Is that a tape recorder?" I ask her. She pushes play, I hear her voice, "'Sebastian, tell me what was in that slushy', 'it was rock salt, but you don't have to worry' 'why don't I have to worry?' 'cause there's none in this one'".

"He admitted it? Holy shit, you're like a modern day Sherlock! That's amazing!" I say, smiling at her. She gives me a small smile back.

"Yeah, I had it taped to my underboob. It doesn't feel as good as I would've thought, taking the high road," she explained.

"No eh? Want me to take you home?" I ask, reaching to place my hand on her knee. She took my hand into her freezing ones.

"I can't go home, my parents will freak and think I'm being bullied for coming out, I don't want to have to explain what happened," she replies.

"Well you can't stay here, you're soaked and freezing. Brittany's?" I ask.

"No, they're gone. They had to leave today to make it to the competition," she shuts down my other suggestion.

"My place?" I finally ask.

"Is that okay?" She asks quietly.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" I laugh. I start thinking of all the reasons why we shouldn't be alone in my apartment. I give her my phone and tell her to text Mercedes. I put the car in gear and head home. What a crazy night.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**Hey guys, sorry this one took so long. Its exams and finals season! Get excited! If only I could write an essay as easily as fanfic! Hope you enjoy. **

I helped Santana carry her slushy soaked clothes into my apartment. Her hair had dripped red slushy onto my sweater and her neck and chest had been stained pink.

"What?" She asked, catching me staring at her. "I know, I look diseased," she finished with an eye roll.

I moved closer to unstick a piece of hair from her neck, "I know, its weird, but it's kind of turning me on," I said. She laughed and slapped my hand away, "You're ridiculous!" She smiled. I was smirking as I told her; "I'll throw your clothes in the washer and find some stain stuff. I feel like we've been in a similar situation before." She handed me the rest of her clothes. "I'll bring you down some clean clothes." She made her way to the bathroom.

I threw her stuff in the washer after I scrubbed at some of the stains. I headed upstairs to grab her some clean clothes of mine. As I walked to the bathroom, I could hear the water running. I knocked and called her name "Santana?"

"Yeah? You can come in, it's not locked," she answered.

I take a deep breath and keep my eyes down as I open the door.

"Hey, just wanted to leave these for you. I'll throw the rest of your things in the wash too," I told her, as I traded her clothes for the fresh ones.

"Thanks Jam," she said.

"Do you need anything else?" I asked.

"This is going to sound silly, but can you see if I've scrubbed it all off my chest and neck?" She asked, as she opened the shower door. I could feel the heat in my cheeks; I doubt it's from the shower.

"Uh...s-sure," I say, as I move closer, the steam is escaping from the shower stall, this, I'm thankful for.

I push her wet hair back from her shoulders.

"There's still a little," I said. She reaches up to scrub it.

"Over a little," I say. She tries for it again.

"Can you..." She says, handing me the cloth. I set the clothes on the counter and take the cloth from her. She peeks out further from behind the shower. I started to wash the pink away. She looks at me, "are you blushing?" She asks.

"What? No, it-it's hot in here," I say, trying to keep my voice from rising.

She's smiling, her big, beautiful smile. I laugh and shake my head. This girl is crazy. I hand her back the cloth, "there, disease free," I announce.

"Thanks," she says, as she closes the door and turns to rinse off. I grab her clothes and head out of the bathroom. I shut the door behind me and lean on it, letting out a breath. I smile to myself, holy damn. As I'm regaining my composure, Santana shouts out from the bathroom, "Hey Jam!" it startles me and I drop her clothes.

"Yea..." I clear my throat, "yeah, what's up?" I say, as I bend over to pick her stuff up.

"I can cook you dinner if you want?" She asks.

"Okay, that sounds good," I reply and head to add the clothes to the wash. When I come back, I feel less flustered and San is just coming out of the bathroom, wearing my things.

"Thanks for the clothes," she says.

"No problem, you look better in them anyways," I said.

"I don't know, I saw how this sweater brings out your cute eyes," she smiles back.

"My cute eyes?" I say, rolling them.

She laughs, "what? Your fine ass in these pants? Better?" She asks.

"Wow, is that how you snagged Brit?" I say.

"As a matter of fact it was, she loved it, thank you very much," she laughs.

I'm laughing now too.

She walks over to my fridge and begins pulling stuff out.

"Wait," I say, she looks at me, "there's actually food in there to cook?" I ask.

"As hard as it is to believe, these things you call vegetables, are actually pretty good not raw. You should try it sometimes," she says, as she continues to pull things out. "I guess you don't have any seasonings right?" She says, looking at me with a smirk.

"Seasonings? Actually, I do," I say, standing and walking around the island to the cupboard. I reach around her and pull out two full containers. I hand them to her.

She looks at them, unimpressed. "What are these?" She asks, her tone flat.

I smile at her. "Well, looks like that one is...salt," I say pointing at one. I inspect the other and look at her, "and that one appears to be pepper," I say, feeling pretty proud of myself.

She bursts out laughing. "I can't believe you! How do you survive?" She asks.

"I'm not a picky eater," I say, smiling at her.

"I guess not! Get your keys; we'll hit up a grocery store. I'm going to teach you to cook, or..." she says, looking at me. "Maybe you should grab a hot shower, you look like a drowned rat. I could go and come back," she suggests. "I know your car is your baby, so that's up to you, I have a good record," she states.

I smile at her and reach for my keys, "make sure you buckle up."

She grabs them and smirks, "I better go before you come to your senses."

She grabs my McKinley lacrosse jacket and throws it on, "I'll be right back!"

She shut the door behind her. I walked over to the bathroom. It's crazy what one girl can do to a person.

About twenty minutes later, I got a text from Santana, saying she was on her way back. I had showered and changed and was just straightening up when I heard Santana pull in. I went out to help her bring in her bags. She had what looked like a months worth of food.

She throws my keys to me, "drives like a dream!" she says, with a smile.

"Thanks," I reply, tucking my keys into my pocket and grabbing a couple bags from her.

"Did you buy the whole store?" I ask.

She smirks at me, "don't you worry about it, I've got this all under control," she replies, heading inside.

She starts emptying the bags on the counter and begins chopping the vegetables. She pops something in her mouth and passes the dish to me.

"Try one of these, they're so good," she says.

I take one, not a hundred percent what it is and throw it in my mouth. She looks at me chewing and asks,

"You don't like it?"

I look at her and scratch my neck. "Um, what is it?" I ask her.

"Slivered, roasted almonds, with a secret-"

"It's a nut?" I ask quickly, cutting her off.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" She asks, walking over to me.

I grab my throat, "I'm a-a-allergic," I tell her through gasps.

"Holy shit! Why didn't you tell me? Do you have a pen?" Santana starts to panic; she takes my face in her hands. I move away and lean against the island.

"Jamie! Where is your epi pen?" She shouted, looking through drawers. I fall to the ground and she's by my side in a heartbeat.

"I'm going to call an ambulance," San gets up to find her phone.

"Tell them to bring a pizza," I say, still lying on the ground. She looks at me.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?" She looks at me.

"They're not bad, a little salty for my tastes though," I say, standing up and popping another almond in my mouth. "On the upside, I completely trust you with my life now." Her mouth drops. She's not laughing.

"Oh my..." She utters, looking at me once more, "my grandmother passed away from a peanut reaction". Her eyes look like they're filling with tears.

Eff my life, I think to myself, I'm officially the biggest ass. I step closer to her and grab her hand.

"I am so sorry, I had no idea," I say, as I fill up with guilt. She sat down on the stool next to me, her face was incredibly sad.

"I know, " she started, as her face changed from sadness to an evil smirk in seconds, "I know, you had no idea you were messing with the master!" She exclaims and jumps off the chair! "Santana, two - Jamie, one," she states.

"Are you kidding me?" I ask, smiling. "I felt horrible!"

"Have I not told you, I want to be famous, my sad face is probably my ticket in," she said, returning to her chopping.

"You're crazy! Can we just declare you winner and call a truce? I don't know if I can keep playing this game, my heart is going to explode," I tell her.

"I have to admit, I thought I killed you for sure," she said, laughing.

"Oh nice, I'm glad you find that funny," I say, throwing an almond at her. She's laughing, as she reaches across the island and pulls my hand, dragging me around to her side.

"Start chopping," she said, with her sly smile.

Dinner turned out amazing. I learned how to make a stir-fry. Well, I was kind of listening, more so watching Santana work and dance around when she found the radio on the counter.

I cleaned up from dinner and we had decided to go to Tony's for dessert. He has the best Italian ice cream around. As we sat inside the little deli, we're discussing school and my big game coming up. Suddenly, Santana switched the topic.  
"So, how's Tatum doing?" she asked. I look at my ice cream, I had completely forgot about my disastrous ending to my date earlier that afternoon.  
"Um, could be going better, I guess," I could have lied and said things were fine, but I feel like Santana would just see through my lies.  
"Uh oh, troubles in paradise? What happened? I thought you were Ms. Charming?" she says, twirling her spoon around.  
"I am and I'm glad you think so. Apparently, she thinks I have some kind of crush…on you?" I say, feeling my face becoming red.  
"What? That's ridiculous, I'm with Brit, we're just friends," San relays quickly, as if she has said it before.  
"I know, can two people not just hang out and not be doing it?" I say casually.

"How does this girl even know, its not like you're official," she looks at me, " right?" she finishes.  
"No, I've hung out with her a couple times, she seems to think I bail on her to come see you, I don't know. You know how girls are," I say, hoping we'll be done this conversation soon, as I'm only digging myself a deeper hole.  
"You don't though, we hang out but if you had a date, you would tell me, wouldn't you? I mean, we're practically BFF's now," Santana replies, with her familiar smile. I don't know what to say, the truth is, I do bail on Tatum to hang out with Santana. We are just friends, I know that, I tell myself. I sigh. I should probably text Tatum.  
"Yeah, of course I would," I lie. I smile at her, "BFF's eh? I let you drive my car once; and now you think we're BFF's?"  
She opens her mouth but just laughs; she lifts her ice cream covered spoon and slaps it against my cheek. Now its my turn for my mouth to drop.  
"Now, we're BFF's, forever!" she says, as she gets up to run away. As usual, I'm up chasing after her, the thought of Tatum, a distant second.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I was lying at centre field. The stadium lights were still shinning. It was only forty minutes ago, that my life had changed. I just wanted to soak up the moment for as long as I could before it was gone. I would never play another high school lacrosse game again. I had wanted to leave everything I had on the field. I want to say tonight, I did that. The stadium cleared out quickly after the game, people making their way to celebrations or home to pout over the loss. Carmel had come back energized and charged from our last meet. They had a game on the line too. It came down to the final minutes of the game, we were tied, 7-7. There was a minute and thirty seven seconds left. Coach Beiste called a time out. As we huddled around figuring our final plays, Coach looked at us all, "I'm so proud of you girls, you've really stepped up this season," and with a tear in her eye, "lets get back out there and win us a championship!" she yelled. As much as we wanted to win this for ourselves, we wanted to win this for her too. I step back out on the field; someone calls me, "Hey! Jamie!" I turn around; it's Seventeen, up in the stands.

"You better keep your head up, my girls have a little surprise coming your way," she yelled from the stands.

"Too bad, you weren't down here to deliver it yourself," I smiled at her and ran out on the field.

The ball was placed back into play and Carmel was in possession. They were closing in on the goal. They made a quick pass to a forward striking towards the net; she caught it and fired a shot! Sugar makes a huge save! I can't believe it. I take off up the field. Thirty nine seconds left. Roberta has the ball; she collides with their forward but manages to toss the ball before she lands. I snag the ball, I have two defense at my back and my lungs are burning. I'm running, I'm alone, I hear some yell out "ten seconds". I'm close, I wind up, go to snap the shot but pull back at the last second. The goalie was out of position; I take a shot from my backhand as their defense tackles me. I fall to the ground with the girl on top of me. The buzzer sounds, ending the game. I can't hear anything. The stadium is quiet, or is that just me? All of a sudden, the crowd is on their feet! Their cheers are deafening. I'm trying to see if I scored but the girl hasn't moved off me. Out of nowhere she's ripped off me and Roberta is pulling me up by the neck of my shirt! "WE WON!"

My whole team is jumping around me! Everyone's shouting and cheering! Marley finds me; she gives me a huge hug. "You did it! That was amazing!"

"I can't believe it! We did it! That was for you Mar! Wish you had been there with me!" I tell her, not sure if she could hear me over the excitement! I'm still shocked. We did it. We won. I run and jump on Sugar! We fall to the ground!

"Sug! That save was ahhhh mazing! Holy damn!" I say, straddling her.

"Nice goal! We make a pretty good team!" She says, reaching up for a high five. I reach for her hand and help her up! There are people everywhere on the field. They're setting up to hand out the trophy. Principal Figgins is on the platform.

"Attention, attention! It is an honor to present our very own, McKinley Titans, with this years, National Girls Lacrosse trophy!" The crowd goes crazy! Coach Beiste steps up to accept the trophy; she looks at it and steps next to me.

"You deserve this kid!" She says with a wink and hands me the trophy. I give her a hug and grip the cup. I look at my team, whom are all beaming with pride and excitement.

"Hells Yes!" I yell, as I hoist the huge trophy over my head. The team goes crazy, all crowding around to touch it! I hand it to Marley, with her one good hand, and my help, she lifts it above her head, she's beaming. We pass it to Sug and it begins its tour around the team. The feeling is indescribable. As I'm standing watching my team celebrate, I get a tap on my shoulder making me turn.

"That was a pretty nice goal," says a voice. I look at her face; it's Seventeen. " I guess we can call it even?" she asks. I'm looking at her with a puzzled look on my face, unable to conceal my confusion. "Look, I get a little out of control when I get caught up in the game," she goes on to explain. "Maybe we can start over?" she suggests. "I'm Alex," she says, extending her hand.  
"Jamie," I murmur, still not completely trusting that she isn't going to go all bananas again.  
"I know, I scouted you're McKinley High Lacrosse profile," she says.  
"Oh, okay, that's not weird at all," I muttered.  
"So truce? At least until college?" she says with a laugh, she gets a little closer, "maybe dinner to put all this behind us?" she says next to my ear. She slipped a piece of paper into my hand as she turns to walk away.  
I look at the paper; it's her number. Marley is standing next to me now.  
"What the hell was that all about?" she asks. I look at her with the same confused face I've been sporting for the last few minutes. "Her number?" Marley confirms, "So I got a broken arm because some crazy girl has a crush on you?" she says looking at me with a smirk. I look at her and start to laugh.  
"Wow, I don't understand girls at all," I admit, as she wraps her good arm around my neck and we head back to the celebrations.

Back inside our locker room, the girls are popping bottles of sparkling cider; there is music, dancing and singing. In the midst of the exhilaration, Coach calls me into her office.  
"Hey Coach," I say, with a huge smile.  
"Hey Jam, come in, close the door," she instructs with a less than enthusiastic smile.  
"What's going on?" I ask, suddenly not feeling like the hundred bucks I was a few seconds ago.  
"I don't know how to tell you this Jamie. You better sit down," she said, coming to lean on the front of her desk. My stomach feels like I just got off a roller coaster. I sit down in a chair facing her desk.  
"I just got off the phone with the scout from Louisville, I'm afraid, I…" she hesitates.  
"Just spit it out Coach, I can handle it. If I've learned anything this season, it's that it's not all about scholarships and winning. It's about pride and hard work and I'll continue to push myself. I wouldn't have learned that without you," I take a breath and look at her. She has a tear in her eye.  
"Well! I'm definitely going to have a hard time telling you this now, I'm afraid they want to offer you a full scholarship," she finishes. I look down at my hands and nod my head.  
Wait. What?

"What?" I ask, "a full," I can't even get arrange my words. Coach is beaming ear to ear.  
"A full scholarship Jamie! They want to pay for your schooling, your books, your housing and your food! You deserve it kid! I'm so proud of you Punkin!" she says, pulling me into a hug.  
I hug her back. I can't believe this. I got in. I GOT IN!  
"Go have fun!" says Coach, as she pushes me out of her office. "Hey girls! Make way for the newest member of the Cards!" she shouts to the team. They all start cheering again. After being congratulated by the team, I make my back out to the empty field. I was listening to the blood still pumping in my ears, when I heard someone approaching.  
"Hey, shouldn't you be somewhere celebrating your big win?" I turn my head to see Santana walking up.  
"Hey you," I say, not being able to hide my excitement of seeing her. I sit up and she sits beside me, still in her Cheerios uniform.  
"I guess you're pretty stoked huh?" she says, leaning in for my second hug of the night. Only this time, it was the hug I had been waiting for.  
"I still can't believe it. It's like a dream. I'm kind of scared of waking up," I say, looking at her warm brown eyes.  
"It's no dream, I told you, you're pretty awesome," she says, with a wink.  
"Speaking of awesome. I've been wanting to tell you since I heard but, scouts called," I say, "they offered me a full scholarship to Louisville U."  
"Shut up!" she exclaims, throwing her arms around me and pushing us back on the lawn. "That's incredible, makes me feel better knowing that," she says, as she rolls on her side to look at me.  
"What do you mean?" I ask.  
"Coach Sue just told me I got a full cheerleading scholarship to Louisville," she said with a shrug.  
"You're kidding?" I said. Could this night get any better? I can't believe this is happening! "Congratulations!"  
"Thanks, Brit applied for it, for me," she explained.  
"You don't seem very excited. What's up?" I ask, seeing something wrong in her eyes.  
"Brit told me when I found out about my scholarship, that she isn't graduating this year, I don't know what to do. We had it all planned out, you know?" she explains. I nod, not knowing what to say. "But we're not talking about this tonight. Tonight is about you," she says, smacking my arm my chin was resting on. "Let's go celebrate!"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

**Hey guys, sorry this took so long! Exams are coming to an end! Last one tomorrow! Let me know what you think about this one. We're coming to the "end of the year" and I'll try to get the chapters up a little more frequently then these two. :D**

The party ended up back at my place after the game. The team was there, most of the Cheerios came and the glee kids showed up too.

Tony had sent up food, as his way of saying congratulations and everyone was enjoying themselves. I was talking to Tina when I noticed the front door open and some girls walk in. In the middle of the pack, I saw Tatum, "crap," I murmured. Tina turned to see who I was looking at. When she turned back around, smirking; I looked at her with a pleading face, "tell her I went to Tony's to sleep, all the excitement, something like that, text me when she's gone," I say. Tina nods and I slip out the sliding door on to my balcony. I closed the door and took a deep breath as I leaned against the rail.

"All the excitement finally caught up with you?" Someone asked, the voice causing me to jump halfway up the railing.

"Wow, I didn't realize anyone was out here, sorry," I apologized, as it seemed I was intruding a private moment. The sniffles coming from the dark corner gave it away.

"Santana?" I asked, waiting for the figure to come out of the shadows. She stood and walked closer to lean against the railing next to me. She was crying.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you out here alone?" I asked, wanting to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. I reached my hand up to her cheek to brush one away. Her cheek was cold. I took my sweater off and wrapped it around her shoulders. She lifted her head and just looked at me, then the sobs came and she moved into me and wrapped her arms around me. I held her close and let her finish. These moments were rare for Santana. Finally, she turned her head so it rested against my chin and we stood looking out over Lima.

"I'm just confused. I don't know what to do. I'm happy about my scholarship. But I feel sad and guilty about Brit. She won't talk to me about it either. I just feel stuck," she said. I want to help her but I've never been any good with feelings.

"It's all happened in the last few hours, why don't you just enjoy tonight and celebrate your big news," I suggest, trying to sound comforting.

"I'm sorry Jamie, I feel like I'm always bringing you into my drama. This is your night. You were amazing out there, you should be having fun," she said, pulling away from me, "not out here, listening to me blubber away like a baby."

I look at her and turn back to lean on the rail again. "Actually, I was coming out here to hide."

Santana looked at me and smiled, "from who?" She asked.

"How do you know it's a person? I could just be hiding from all the...commotion inside," I look at her, sounding far from convincing. She's waiting for my answer. I sigh and admit, "Fine, Tatum walked in. I just haven't seen her since I bailed on her at the game."

"So? You're Jamie, you have cute eyes, a killer personality and you're a wicked lacrosse player, if she's going to let that go because you left to help out a friend, than that's her loss," she finished. "Or, is there someone else and that's why you're avoiding her?" She asked. I can feel myself blushing, thankful for the darkness of night.

_Of course there's someone else, there's always been someone else. _I finally admit. _She's just not available_, I think to myself.

"No, there's no one else," I state.

"Are you sure? I saw that sneaky Seventeen bitch, all up in your grill after the game. She slipped you her number, didn't she? She can't attack your friend and then ask you out. That's not classy," she declares.

We both start laughing. Just then the door opens and Brit sticks her head out. "Hey," she says.

"Hey," says San.

"Hey Brit," I say, "I was just heading back inside." I turn to Santana; "I'll see you in there." I didn't want to leave her. But then again, Brittany was the one who was supposed to be drying her tears, not me. I stepped into the bathroom to give myself a second to regroup. I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head. I was only supposed to come to Lima to earn a scholarship, not to catch a crush on one of the most popular girls at McKinley, who is taken. Only a couple more months and I'll be in Louisville with a fresh start. After my little pep talk, I step out of the bathroom and right into Tatum.

"Hey, I've been looking for you," she says, "Tina said you were over at Tony's. I didn't see you come back."

I just look at her, trying to think quick, "Um...yeah, all the excitement must have caught up with me. I just needed a second," I try to explain.

"Oh, well, if you're better, I'd like to talk," she says.

_Uh, no thank you, I'm good_, I think to myself.

"Okay, sure," I say, forcing a smile.

"We'll have to go out front, I think everywhere is full." She says.

"There's a bench just around the corner. Let me grab another sweater or something," I say, reaching for a jacket.

"Another sweater?" She asks, confused.

"Yeah," I mumble, "I must have lost the one I was wearing." Although, telling her that I gave my sweater to Santana, would probably get me out of this chat we're about to have. I lead the way and hold the door open for her. We make our way to the bench and sit down. Tatum sits close enough that our legs are touching.

She starts, "I just want to apologize for freaking out the other day. I know you guys are just friends. Guess I got a little jealous."

She sits here waiting for my reply.

"Yeah, sure," I can't think of anything better to say, it's not like we're dating. Eventually, she reaches to move a piece of fallen hair and tucks it behind my ear.

"I hear congratulations is in order," she says quietly, "I'm really happy for you, you were awesome out there tonight."

As I start to thank her, she moves closer, letting her lips find my neck. She continues her trail along my jawbone, moving her hand further along my thigh. Her other hand has been placed behind my neck. Her lips eventually find mine and she kisses me hard, her tongue slides against my lower lip before she pulls away.

"I'm going to Mattie's tonight; her parents aren't home. When the party dies down, maybe you can slip away?" She asks, standing up. She leans over and places one more kiss just below my ear. "Hopefully I'll see you soon," she whispers before turning and walking away. I sit on the bench a little longer.

_What kind of talk was that?_ I think, shaking my head. I let out a breath and return to the party.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It's been quite the night. I noticed that most people have left. As I'm hanging my coat up, someone pushes against me as they rush out the door.

"Brittany?" I ask, not sure. The only answer I received was a slam of the door. _Weird_, I thought. I look around and see Marley.

"Hey, how's the party?" I ask.

"Good, everyone's having a good time, as usual at your shindigs," she smiles, "how are you doing? I've seen an array of girls and drama passing through tonight."

I look at her, not sure how to answer.

"What do you mean? Of course there's girls, it's the girls lacrosse team," I say, not knowing where to go with this conversation.

"No, no," she says with a laugh, "not any girls, you're girls. Santana, Tatum. Seems like they were both looking for you tonight."

I just stand there with a blank face.

"You might as well spit it out, I'm one of your best friends. Lets talk it out," Marley offers.

Girls. They always want to talk it out. I debate about letting her know what I'm thinking.

"I don't know. It's ridiculous," I state. She looks at me.

"Is it though? Is it really?" she asks, sounding like she already knows what I want to say. "Just admit it, there's something between you and Santana," Marley finally spits out for me. I can feel my jaw drop. She smiles. "Well, you guys did good job hiding it at first. But now you're practically inseparable. She's always coming to you and you're always saving her from something. It's like a Juliet and Juliet thing you have going on," she says and smiles.

I look around to see if anyone else is listening to this.

"Yeah, I guess we've become pretty close. But she has a girlfriend and I wouldn't want to put her in an awkward situation. Plus, she would never do that to Brit," I explain.

"No, but there clearly are feelings there," she says.

"It doesn't matter, she's not available. Plus, I've been seeing Tatum," I say, trying to sound casual. Marley starts laughing.

"You've been seeing Tatum? Yeah, in the halls and at parties while you're trying to avoid her!" She said with a point.

"Twice. That only happened twice," I said with a smirk.

She looked at me funny. I made a face back at her.

"It must feel funny huh? A big time lacrosse player with all these girls hanging off you?"

"Whoa, what are you saying? There's one," I argue.

"I'm not talking about the girls that are shoving themselves at you. I mean the ones that want your attention. For example, Santana. Tatum and now Seventeen."

"So three? That's a crazy number? And seventeen gave me her number, that doesn't mean I'm going to call her. And Santana and I are just friends. That leaves Tatum," I say, rationally.

"I'm just trying to point out. It's quality, not quantity. You can't look at all these girls, the way you look at Santana."

"So what you're saying is I shouldn't use the invite Tatum offered up this evening?"

"What offer? Isn't she mad at you?" She says rolling her eyes, "jeez, doesn't take much to get that girls' undies..."

"Okay!" I cut her off and try to ignore the gestures she making, "and on that note, I'm heading up to bed."

"Congrats today Jamie!" she says, smiling and getting up to give me a hug.

"Thanks Mar," I say returning her hug.

When I make it upstairs, I see that someone has already crashed in my bed. I try to be quiet and start grabbing my things when the lump under my blanket rolls over.

"Hey," she says.

I struggle to see her in the dark, but I can tell by her voice that it's Santana.

"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you," I say quietly.

"It's okay, I wasn't...sleeping," she said, with a sniffle.

It bothers me that on a night she should be celebrating, instead she is crying. Is that why Brittany stormed out?

I sit down on the edge of the bed.

"What's going on San? Didn't you and Brittany talk it out?" I ask.

She sat up and I passed her a tissue. She was completely crying now, more upset than before. I waited a second while she caught her breath.

"We broke up," she said and with that came a fresh wave of tears.

"Santana...sorry. I didn't see that one coming," I said as I moved closer to rub her back. She leaned into me. "She came out...and when you went inside she told me that she didn't want to hold me back... She said she knew I wouldn't want to leave her and that she was doing it so that we could find ourselves." She said, still trying to control her crying. "She sang "_Mine" _by Taylor Swift. I thought she was trying to say how much she loved me… and that'd we'd be okay, but then she said it was for the best…and left,' she explained, as the tears fell down her cheeks. I had never been able to understand why girls did the things they do, but why would Brittany sing Santana a love song, one of the best love songs, only to leave her brokenhearted.  
"It's been a crazy night, I think Brit probably just thinks she's doing what's best for you, I'm sure she'll come around," I say, trying to sound supportive or sympathetic. We moved to the back of the bed so we could lean against the headboard. Santana let her head rest on my shoulder and we sat there for a while just listening to the buzz of the people downstairs. Santana started to finally fall asleep. I helped her lay back down and pulled the blanket up over her. I was about to get up and leave when Santana rolled over and reached for my hand.  
"Will you sleep here tonight?" she asked, "I don't want to be alone."  
"Yeah, absolutely," I say, as I reach for my track pants. She rolls back over and I change into my comfy clothes and climb back into bed. Once I got settled and pulled the blankets over me, I felt Santana move. She rolled back over and snuggled into my side, her head on my chest. "Thanks for always being here for me, I don't know what I would do without you," she whispers, her eyes already closed.  
"I need you too, more than you know," I whisper back, but she had already fallen back asleep.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

When Santana left on Sunday she was still pretty upset about the break up. I tried to comfort her, but she seemed truly heart broken. I hate seeing her this upset. But there is nothing I can do. A broken heart heals on its own time.

It was Wednesday and I hadn't seen Santana in class or at lunch, all week. Whenever I text her, I got one word answers. I caught up with Tina and she had mentioned that Quinn was taking Santana her homework, something about San being sick.

I was kind of surprised to hear her parents were letting her take off so much time from school, as they held education pretty high in their house. When I text San and asked her about them, she revealed that they were out of town for the next ten days. The thought of her being alone and sad was the last straw. After school, I met up with Quinn and asked her if I could take San her homework. I went to work early and on my way home stopped to pick up some soup, tea and chocolate for Santana. That kind of stuff always made me feel better. On my way to her house, I began to think of how I was going to convince her to get out of her funk. She had cheerleading finals tomorrow, followed by national skip day on Friday. I gathered up the food and tea and headed to the door; her homework was in my backpack that hung off my shoulder. I kicked the door slightly as my hands were full.

"San?" I called, hoping she would hear me and help. Nothing. I begin balancing all the hot liquid and tried the handle. It pops open and I nudge the door with my sneaker the rest of the way.

"Santana? Hello?" I yell into the house. I hear some cluttering from the kitchen. As I walk in, Santana is in the middle of pouring a shot of what looks like tequila.

"San?" I ask, quietly, hoping not to scare her.

"Holy crap! How did you get in here?" She screams.

"Whoa. Would you relax, the door was unlocked. Besides, you showed me where your spare was," I reminded her. She was leaning against the counter, more for support than looks.

"Are you drunk?" I ask.

"I wouldn't say drunk, I would say more tipsy, if you ask me," she slurs. I look at the bottle she was pouring, there was a good chunk missing from it.

"San, what's going on? Is this why you've been missing school?" She looked at me with a cold bitterness.

"No, I miss school because by then I'm usually hung over," she says, with her smart ass smirk.

"Seriously? When's the last time you ate something?"

"Holy, is this twenty questions? 'Cause if it is, I'm prolly gonna need another shot," she says, reaching for the bottle.

"I think you've had enough sweetie," I say, also reaching for the bottle.

"Excuse me? I think I would know. Stop mothering, I don't need that right now," she says through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to help. Maybe you should eat this, it's your favorite," I say, pushing the soup towards her.

"You think you know me so well? This is all your fault," she says pointing at the bottle and the mess of a living room. It looks like she hasn't been moving much from the couch.

"What are you talking about? Why don't we go sit down," I suggest, after seeing her wobble back and forth as she was talking.

"No, I don't want to. I wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for you. You had to go always being there, always being around and nice," she says, slurring the words more so now. "If you hadn't come into the picture, I wouldn't have been distracted and I would have seen Brit struggling in school. I could have helped her," she said, angrily.

"San, I think Brit could have asked for help if she…" I was cut off by Santana slamming her hands on the counter.

"Don't say her name," she said, barley moving her lips.

"Are you okay?! I have been nothing but supportive of your relationship. I'm sorry you're going through a rough patch San, but this isn't my fault," I try explaining, still struggling to understand why I was being dragged into this.

"Get out," she isn't looking at me when she says it under her breath.

"Santana," I try, "lets talk about this."

"I said get out. I don't want you here," she repeats in barley a whisper.

"Stop! You don't mean this," I can't believe this is happening. My heart is in my throat. My stomach is all over the place.

"Get out!" She raises her voice. I shake my head and turn, grabbing my bag. I calmly walk towards the door but I'm freaking out inside. I can't catch my breath. What's happening? I slam the door behind me and as I do I hear a huge bang from inside the house, followed by a scream. I stop dead in my tracks and run back inside. As I move back into the living room, I see her sprawled on the floor next to a toppled table. There's broken glass from the vase that used to sit upon it. I run to her.

"Santana?" I say her name. She moans and I roll her over onto her back. I hold her face between my hands. There's no blood and from what I can tell, there are no bruises.

"Santana? Hey, can you hear me?" I ask again.

"I...told you...to leave," she sputters out. I roll my eyes; she's so damn stubborn. "I can take care of myself," she says as she tries to get up and fails miserably.

"Of course you can, I'm just making sure you didn't hurt yourself, then I'll leave," I say, trying to keep my voice from wavering.

"Good," she states. Every word from her is cutting through me like a knife. I keep telling myself that it's just the alcohol; but it isn't helping.

I sit her up and step behind her. With her head leaning back against my shoulder, I wrap my arms around her rib cage and lift her over to the couch. I lay her down on her stomach and make sure she is facing outward. I pull the blanket down off the back of the couch and cover her with it. I stand there for a second just looking at her. What if it wasn't the alcohol talking? It usually brings out the truth right? I raise my hand to touch her soft cheek. Not being able to bear the thought of Santana being serious, I move back to the table and begin picking up the pieces of glass. I brush a tear away with the back of my hand.

Stop, I tell myself. It's the alcohol; she didn't mean it. She's upset.

I dump the glass into the garbage and sweep up the smaller bits. I lift the table back to its original position and I place a small garbage pale beneath her head with a bottle of water and two aspirins next to it. I get my backpack and turn, ready to leave. I look at her one last time, and then the bottle on the counter catches my eye. It's almost empty. She probably shouldn't be left alone, but she doesn't want me here and it's too late to call anyone else. I stand there debating a little longer. I let out a sigh and move towards the chair placed across from the coach. I drop my bag on the floor and grab the blanket off the back before sitting down. I try sleeping but can't get her words to stop twisting in my head. I start to dose off and am awoken around four in the morning by the sound of vomiting. It's gross and probably my worst nightmare but I get up and go to her. I grab her hair and hold it back. When she's done, I head back to my chair, she's already passed out again. I woke up a little after six in the morning. Santana was still asleep on the couch. I move closer to the couch and sit on the side. I pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. I hadn't stopped thinking about her words all night. They were just products of sadness and alcohol, right? Every time I told myself that, I got a nagging feeling that reminded me that it might be true. There had been moments that may have been out of line, but we always stopped and moved on. I shook my head. I had to leave before she woke up. I was digging around to find her phone so I could set an alarm when I heard her start to stir. I found it and quickly and set it for seven in case she fell back asleep. She had to go to school today, it was the championship of cheerleading. The memory of her making me promise I would be there sunk in. Guess that was something that wouldn't matter now. I saw her lift her head up and hold it in her hands. I grabbed my bag and start to the door before she has a chance to realize I had stayed the night. I heard her voice as I close the door but I don't turn back scared of what the morning brought. At least this way, there is hope she was calling me back.

Once I was back at my apartment, I showered and made myself some breakfast. I was sitting at the island starring into my soggy bowl of flakes when my phone begins to ring. It's Santana. I look at it contemplating whether I should answer it or not. Before I can decide the call ends. I wait for a message but it never comes. It's eight o'clock and I run upstairs to change before heading out to school.

The day was booting along surprisingly fast. I was sitting in English when I felt my phone vibrate. I reach for it, holding it below my desk so Mr. Shue doesn't see it. It's a reminder that Santana's competition starts in a half hour. I dismiss it, having already gone over the pros and cons of going and deciding against it. As I sit in class, listening to Shue conjugate verbs I look around and finally notice Brittany sitting across the class. I go back to listening about verbs when I think about it. If Brittany is sitting in class and Mr. and Mrs. Lopez are out of town, who is watching and supporting San at the one thing she truly has worked her ass off for. Well not Brittany because she left her high and dry when things got hard I think to myself. The thought of her looking out into the crowd and not seeing any familiar faces tore at my already hurting heart. I wait for Shue to turn his back and sneak out of class. She was at almost every lacrosse game, I couldn't let her be alone, especially now.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I parked my car and tried looking for the Cheerios before I got out. Even though I was there for Santana, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see her. Looking at all the people, I was sidetracked with my thoughts. I went back to that day she made me promise I would be here. It was after school one Tuesday; we were sitting in my kitchen doing homework. She had made a comment about cheerleading and, not thinking, I made my usual, "cheerleading isn't a sport" remark back. I thought she was going to jump across the island at me. I started laughing which through her off.

"Wow, guess that's a button not to be messed with! You're face is priceless," I told her.

After that she started laughing and told me she'd prove me wrong. When I asked how, she had said if I came to the finals I would have my mind blown. I was still looking at her with my puzzled face when she said, "Really? Hundreds of girls, wearing next to nothing, jumping up and down? Need I say more?" She asked rolling her eyes and laughing.

"Promise me you'll come and I'll promise you a good time," she suggested, holding out her hand. I took her hand, my mouth still open from the thought of this heavenly place she described.

"I'm in. Promise I'll be there! Centre and possibly front!" I say with a huge grin.

"Good, I really just want you there, you seem to help with my nerves for some reason. Knowing the strings to pull didn't hurt," she said with a wink.

"As if you needed to pull strings, I'd have been the first one there if you had asked!"

I'm pulled out of my moment when I hear the announcer bring out the Cheerios. I got out and found a place near the top to sit. They came skipping and running across the stage. I can't find Santana; she's always the easiest for me to find. I'm worried she slept through her alarm. The rest take their places on the stage, from the loud speaker a voice begins to sing. I recognize it instantly, but I can't tell if it's recorded or live. Then she's there, just appearing from the middle of the stage. She sings the intro to the song and then a loud bass takes over and their crazy, elaborate routine begins. There are flips and jumps and crazy stunts taking place all over. Santana hasn't skipped a beat. Their routine is very intense and as they finish and step off stage, they look excited and thrilled. I thought it was good, but I might be biased.

As I'm waiting for the next team to come out, I realize how cool it is outside. I clearly underestimated Mother Nature and am now regretting my choice of short shorts. I had my lacrosse sweater in the car but my legs are covered in goose bumps. The announcer comes back on revealing that there are two more teams before the judges make their decisions. The next team is from a school I didn't recognize. Their song selections are much slower. As I'm trying to stay awake during this performance a Cheerios jacket suddenly covers my legs. Santana is standing next to me, arms crossed, head down. She looks amazing in her Cheerios uniform. She's wearing her skirt, a long white shirt underneath the iconic McKinley top and her hair is around her shoulders.

"Hey," she says quietly.

"Hey," I reply.

"Mind if I sit?" She asks.

I shake my head and look back out at the stage.

"I didn't think you'd come today," she admitted.

"Well, in my defense, there are hundreds of girls, scandalously dressed, jumping up and down," I say, finally looking at her again. She starts to laugh.

"Plus, I made a promise," I finish. At this, she turns to me and puts a hand on my knee.

"Jamie," she whispers.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," I interrupt her before she starts.

"It's not fine, I was an ass last night and you definitely do not deserve that," she says, reaching for my hand. "I know I may not remember everything exactly, but I do remember you brushing a tear away at some point and it kills me to know I hurt you like that. I truly didn't mean anything I said last night, I think I was just scared," she said, wiping at a tear that had escaped her eye.

"I would never hurt you," I stated.

"I know," she says quietly.

"I always just wanted you to be happy. If Brittany made you happy, then I was happy for you," I said.

"I know that. I do. When I heard the door this morning, I realized that it was you holding me last night and not some dream. I wanted to run after you but my head was pounding and my stomach, I felt horrible. I just wanted you back. I thought I'd never see you again," she said.

I looked at her.

"It'll take a little more than a yell to 'get out' to get me packing. Clearly. I was back in less than a half hour sleeping on your chair," I said, trying to not sound as pathetic as I felt.

"You mean so much to me Jamie, I'm so sorry, I never want to fight, it sucked not talking to you for just a day. This isn't me. I don't want to be sad anymore," she said, still holding my hand. I was looking into her big, brown, sad eyes. I just wanted to wrap her up in my arms and take her away from all this.

"I know San," I say, wiping a tear from her cheek. She wrapped her arm around mine and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Are we okay?" She asked, uncertain.

"Yeah, we're good," I say with a smile.

Eventually, the announcer came back on. He called down the top three teams; McKinley, and two others from farther away.

"I have to go down, will you wait for me?" She asked, still not convinced that I accept her apology.

"Of course, go get your gold," I say. She smiled at me and ran down to the stage.

They announced the third place, keeping us full of suspense. Coach Sue's face was stellar. It was almost like she was secretly threatening the judges.

"And the winner of this years cheerleading nationals...MCKINLEY CHEERIOS!"

Sue pushes one of the excited girls out of her way as she goes to accept the trophy. She lifts it above her head and heads off stage with it. I shake my head. That woman is crazy.

After the girls were done celebrating, Santana walked up to were I was sitting. She was still smiling.

"Congrats," I say. "It was definitely the voice.

"Thanks," she blushed. "Do you have plans tonight?" She asks.

"No, my shift at work was cancelled," I inform her.

"Want to come over? We can pick up dinner on the way home and watch movies. I'd cook but I'm still not feeling amazing," she says, beginning to ramble.

I laugh, "Jose is never your friend in the morning. It's a love hate relationship, I've learned. But dinner sounds good. "

We walk to the car joking and it's as if nothing happened.

We had picked up food and were sitting down to eat.

"I need to get out of this funk," says Santana.

"I know; you're killing me. I mean, I know it's sad but your whole life is about to open up right in front of you. There are so many roads you can take. Cheerleading, New York, you can do anything, " I say with excitement.

"I know. I really enjoy music. I'm always listening to my iPod and I've started writing some things. I just don't know if I can jump right into it, or if I'd be better getting a music background at school," she said, with a thoughtful expression on her face. I grab her iPod off the table and sit back on the couch.

"So then let's use music to get out of your rut," I say, scrolling through her playlists. I come to one at the end. 'Sad'. "What's this one?" I say clicking in on it, and seeing one song. It starts playing.

"Just fast forward that one," Santana says, trying to reach for her iPod.

"Is this Brittany? Please tell me your not listening to this over and over," I say, holding the iPod out of her reach and listening to the sad version of T Swifts 'Mine'.

"No wonder you're in a rut! You keep reliving that sad moment San. Listen to me," I say, turning to face her, the song still playing in the background.

"You guys had a great love song, but even the greatest love songs can be turned sad," I say holding up the iPod to make my point. "Look at the 'Notebook', a great love story, not the happiest of endings...gets me every time," I say, she smiles a little.

"Do you even remember what this song actually sounds like? It's the sweetest love song," I say, scrolling through her list.

"What are you doing?" She asks, as I stand up and plug the iPod into her speakers. I pick the guitar up at the end of the couch and put the strap around me. Having no idea how to play it, I toss the pick to Santana like I'm some huge rock star. She starts to laugh as she catches it. The song starts and I start lip syncing and pretending to play the guitar. I'm singing like I'm on stage next to Swift. Santana is sitting back on the couch and watching. I'm finally realizing what I'm doing and my shy side is trying to take over. The bridge comes and I'm jumping on the end of the couch, still rocking the guitar. Santana is still looking at me and I finish the song sitting on the arm of the couch.

She's looking at me like I'm crazy and at that moment, I feel crazy. She stands and walks over to me. I push the guitar to my back and stand up.

"I'm not trying to outplay Brittany, but love songs aren't supposed to be sad," I explain, I still can't tell what she's thinking.

"Thank you," she says, as she wraps her arms around me. I pull her in closer.

"Anytime," I whisper against her ear.

"Now go change, we're going out," I say, "and it's not another impromptu song. Clearly, I have been hanging out with Berry too much."

"I loved it, I knew you had glee in you," Santana says as she takes a step back.

"Yeah, well, just don't let that leave the room. I have an rep to maintain," I say, smiling.

"Where are we going?" She asks.

"We're going to break your funk and have some fun. Lets go," I say.

She leaves to go get changed and I'm left standing there. I set the guitar back down and lean against the wall. For the first time I realize how fast my heart is beating; so much for stage fright.

A few minutes later, Santana comes down her stairs. I turn to look at her. I can't find my words. She's wearing a green and black striped dress, with a leather jacket and heels.

"Wow, you look amazing," I finally spit out.

She smiles and tucks a piece of hair back, "shut up," she says, "but thanks."

I stand up and put my jacket on.

"Ready?" I ask. She nods and we head out the door.

"We should probably walk," I say.

She links her arm in mine and we start walking.

"I'm glad we're doing this," said Santana.

I link our hands together and say, "me too."

We're almost at school, coming over the hill, when we see the lights of the stadium on.

"What's going on?" Santana asks.

We take one more step as the music reaches our ears and we can see half the school down on the field dancing and having a good time.

"Apparently, the Cheerios budget had room for a celebration party," I say, "Lets gets our party on!"

I grab her hand and we head down the stands to field. She's greeted by some of the Cheerios and they take her away to dance, she turns to me as they pull her. I smile and motion for drinks. She yells over her shoulder, "I'll be right back, I promise." I wave and head to find us some drinks. As I weave my way through the crowd, I run into Sug and Marley.

"Hey guys," I say, reaching to give Marley a hug.

"Hey Jam!" Sug says handing me a drink. "Puckerman got some fun juice to put a little pep into this jam!"

I laugh and take a sip; it's spiked like no body's business. We start dancing and jumping around. I finish the drink and was quickly passed another from Sug, who was guzzling them back as well. After a few more songs, Marley leaned over and asked if I'd walk her to the bathroom. She walked behind me so I that no one would bump her arm. Once we got there, I told her I'd wait outside. I was standing with my back to the crowd when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I turned around figuring I'd see Sugar, but when I did, it was Santana standing there.

"Hey you," she says, "I just want to thank you. I'm having an awesome time!"

I smile at her, as I wrap my arms around her.

"I'm glad you're having fun," I reply.

"Want to dance?" She asks. I look at her; I'm not the best dancer. I start laughing, "okay, but I'm not very good."

"Oh I'm aware! I saw your moves this afternoon. Maybe I can teach you!" She says, grabbing my hand. "Although, I've had some of Pucks juice, so we may have to settle on your moves."

I laugh, saying, "I'm just waiting for Marley."

She waits for her with me. We're laughing at Finn trying to dance, when Marley comes out. We all walk back over to where we were dancing and then San and I sneak further into the crowd. We start dancing apart, laughing and having a good time. Then, after a couple songs, we had moved together and started dancing closer. Santana was an awesome dancer; her moves were super hot. Just as things were starting to get really steamy, a slow song came on. I start to walk away when Santana grabbed my arm, "oh no you don't!" I turn around laughing, "really? You want to go through this?" I ask.

"I said I would teach you," she replied, placing my hand on her hip and hers on my shoulder. The other she kept softly held in her other hand. She began moving us back and forth over the floor. I was busy looking down at our feet, when she moved her hand under my chin and lifted my eyes to meet hers.

"It's easier if you just feel the music," she said, pulling me closer, "like this."

My head was swimming; I couldn't believe this was happening. For the rest of the song, I held her in my arms as she ran her fingers up and down my neck. When the song ended, Santana whispered in my ear, "thanks for the dance."

"Anytime," I whispered back.

We decided to go get another drink and started through the crowd. As we were creeping through the crowds of people, San stopped abruptly causing me to run into her and grab her sides.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" I asked above the music. She didn't answer me; I tried to follow her gaze but couldn't see anything. I pulled her back into me and whispered in her ear.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She grabbed my hand and nodded. Then I saw them, two blonde heads sticking out of the crowd. I turned Santana around and tried to find Sug and Marley. When we finally found them, they had two drinks, which Santana and I happily gulped down. I was worried about San. I had brought her here to have fun and she had changed since she saw Brittany. I reached for her hand and brought her back out on the dance floor. She loosened up right away; her smile came back and we were laughing and having fun once again.

Around one in the morning, Santana leaned into me and started slow dancing to a fast song.

"Want me to take you home?" I asked.

She looked up at me, "Can I stay with you tonight?"

"Yeah, whatever you want," I reply, "Do we have to stop and get anything?" I asked her.

"No I think I have a couple things that I've left at your place," we both laugh at this.

We start to walk home, saying good-bye to people we recognize as we leave. I see Marley as we're heading out the gate.

"Hey, you okay to get home?" I ask.

"Yeah, Sug's dad is coming," she answered, then more quietly, "she's around the corner making out with Artie."

I laughed, "oh really? Well, tell her it's about time and to text me."

"You going to be okay?" Mar asked, nodding at Santana, who looked like she could fall asleep at anytime as she hung off my arm.

"Yeah, just a long day and a couple of Pucks fun juices," I say, pulling Santana closer.

Marley smiled and lean in for a hug, "you guys look so cute together," she whispered.

I smiled back at her as she pulled away, "we're just friends," I remind her.

She nods and heads off to find Sug with a huge grin.

I adjust my arm around Santana's waist and help her towards my place. At some point during the walk, she slipped her heels off and we traded shoes; knowing I'd never be able to pull off her heels, I walked the rest of the way in my socks and carried them. She was laughing at the thought of me in heels, when she said she needed a break. We stopped at the bench just outside my apartment.

"We're almost there San," I said, kneeling in front of her. She had her eyes closed and was shivering. I laughed a little and say to her, "we're about ten steps to the door, I'm just going to carry you okay?" I said not really asking.

She started laughing again, "there's no way you're going to lift me."

"Want to bet?" I asked, stepping in front of her. Still laughing she stood up,

"I can walk," she said, as she stumbled and fell into me.

"Oh really? You're off to a great start," I say, brushing the hair out of her face. She was just giggling as I reached for her arm and lifted her over my shoulder. I was almost to the door when I felt her pinch my ass.

"Hey!" I said, with a chuckle.

"You do have a nice bum in these pants," she answered.

"These aren't those pants," I remind her.

Once up the stairs inside my place, I set her back down. Her legs were still wobbly and I stood close enough that she could lean against me. She looked up at me and touched my cheek, "you're cheeks are cold," she said.

"I know, you must be freezing, lets go find a blanket," I suggested.

But she didn't move, instead she leaned up and closed her eyes. I wanted to kiss her so much but I didn't want it to be while we both had had some drinks, so I turned my cheek and let her place one there.

When our eyes met again, she looked disappointed. I placed one hand against her face and kissed her forehead, "I'm sorry," I heard her whisper against my neck.

"Don't be, I just want that moment to be perfect, let me help you up stairs," I whispered back. I left her some clothes she could change into and headed to the washroom. When I came out, I heard a knock on the door. I figured it was someone needing a place to crash so I opened it without checking who was there. When the door opened, I was greeted with a very cold slushy to the face. By the time I wiped the red out of my eyes, I couldn't see who it was, their tires squealed as doors shut. I shut and locked the door, the cold headache settling in.

"Who was it Jam?" Santana asked getting up from the bed. "What the hell?!" She yelled when she saw my face. She came flying down the stairs to me. "Are you okay?" She asked. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a cloth.

"I'm fine," I say, taking the cloth.

"Who was it?" She asked.

"I don't know, I didn't get a chance to look," I replied.

"What the hell? When I find out who did this," she started, before taking the cloth back and helping me wipe it off. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good, just cold," I reassure her.

"You should jump in the shower, I throw this stuff in the washer," she said holding out her hand for my clothes. We both started laughing as we took in the scene.

"Why does this keep happening to us?" I asked, with a laugh.

"It would be nice if we could get through just one night out without drama," she added.

I agreed and headed to the bathroom, Santana followed reaching in for my clothes and taking them to the laundry.

When I came out of the bathroom, she was sitting on the couch, with her phone. She looked upset. I grabbed some track pants and a sports bra from the basket Santana had brought out with her and standing behind her I changed.

"I think I know who threw the slushy," said Santana.

"Who?" I asked.

She handed me her phone and I looked down at a text message from Brittany.

**Hope you enjoy your night with Elmo**.

I stand there, confused. "What's her deal? You guys aren't together," I asked.

Santana didn't say anything. I walk around the couch and sit next to her.

"Are you?" I asked, when I saw her expression on her face.

"She text me today, before the meet and wished me good luck," she answered.

"Okay, what does that mean?" I ask, still confused.

"She said she wanted to try it out again, I saw her tonight at the party for a bit," she explained.

It feels like we're back in her kitchen, I can feel my heart starting to race, my throat getting tight.

"Why would you come back with me then?" I ask, standing up and looking for a shirt.

"Jamie, listen, it's not like that," she starts, standing up and walking to me.

"I just got a slushy facial from your girlfriend slash ex slash whatever you want to call her, it kind of seems like that," I say, getting frustrated.

"Jam, please listen to me, I was just confused. I don't know what I'm feeling right now," she says.

"Okay, well right now, I feel like I just want to go to bed," I say, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch and going to lie down.

"I can sleep on the couch Jam," Santana says softly.

"It's fine, I'm fine," I answer. I hear her start up the stairs and stop. I don't look back. She turns the light off. Thankful for the darkness, I brush the tear off my cheek and try for some sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

I tossed and turned all night. I was thankful it was skip day tomorrow, but I knew I didn't want to be here when Santana woke up. I grabbed my phone off the table, 4:08am.

I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep so I got up, grabbed my iPod and keys and snuck outside. I sat down on the stoop and tied my sneakers. The big gulp glass, from last night's facial, were still strewn across the front of my apartment. I picked it up and tossed it in the trash before starting my run. Seeing the red all over my door brought back the anger from last night and I started sprinting away. I thought running would help but it only left me alone to think about everything all over again.

_What was Brittany's problem? Santana and I are just friends, she's crashed at my place before, why did last night deserve a slushy? Brittany text Santana before the finals? Why wouldn't she have just gone to the meet and participated? She left the Cheerios because of her and Santana, if she wanted Santana back why wouldn't she have gone back to the squad? Maybe Sue wouldn't let her back on because she quit in the first place. Doesn't matter. They met at the party; Santana was gone for a while before she met up with me again, maybe they did get back together. But Santana wouldn't have danced with me if they had. I thought that dance was different. It felt different. Didn't it? So maybe they aren't together. Ugh! I don't know. _

I run faster. My lungs are burning; sweat is dripping down my face. Figuring out where I am, I finally stop running. It's eerily quiet. I realize I'm close to the lake. I start running towards the edge of the water. I see a dock. I'm still running. I throw my iPod and keys down on the ground, run to the end of the dock and dive in headfirst. I'm moving through the dark water. I'm moving fast but for the first time since leaving my apartment, my thoughts have slowed. I'm thinking only of the chilly June water as I glide through. I break the surface and take a deep breath of crisp air. I put my head back and float on my back. It's still early enough that the moon is still out yet the sun is creeping the horizon. My ears are below the water; all I can hear is the pounding of blood. I float a little longer, calming my nerves. I swim back towards the dock and lift myself out. The sun is beginning to break over the water. The colors are amazing. The pink mixed with the orange. I can't take my eyes off it. I wait long enough to see the entire sun floating on the water before I get up and start home. If I have realized anything, it's that I need to talk to San and find out what's going on.

I'm still dripping wet when I reach my front door. I unlock the door and head up the stairs, throwing my keys and iPod onto the couch. I head to the kitchen for water. I drink down two glasses realizing that I've been out for the better of three hours. I guess Santana is still asleep. I pull off my wet t-shirt and head up to my room; might as well get this conversation over with.

"Hey San," I say, on my way up the steps, " I think we need to..." I stop, as I see my bed is made. I look back downstairs. Her shoes are gone. I lean against the railing and realize that my door had been wiped clean of slushy when I walked in. She must have woke and seen that I was gone and decided to leave, so much for talking. I strip the rest of my wet clothes off and head down for a shower. It's 7:30am, I could still make it in for a shift at work might as well, considering what a mess everything else is.

I showered and got to work by 8:00 am. I was able to work over time, which got me home a little after 8:00pm.

I checked my messages on my phone before falling into bed. I had two, one from Sug and the other from Marley. They both wanted to know how skip day went. I answered them both and flicked off the light.

The rest of the weekend turned out much like Friday, working everyday with overtime. During the week, I made sure to schedule myself everyday especially since there were no more practices for lacrosse, the lack of practices had me running the track at lunch. I made myself so busy, I barley even saw Marley and Sug. Prom was coming up and that's all anyone ever spoke of, everything else flew under the radar. As I was walking into the school from my run at lunch on Thursday, I heard footsteps behind me. I looked over my shoulder before entering the school.

"Hey," she said. I stopped and looked at her. It had been a week since I saw San. Not talking to her everyday was becoming unbearable.

"Hey," I said.

"You've been busy," she said, looking unsure of how to talk to me.

"Yeah, well without lacrosse, I have more time," I answer. _More time that I thought I'd be able to spend with you._

"Jam, I just want to tell you..." She started, but was cut off by a shout from someone approaching behind me.

"Hey, I thought we were meeting at my locker? I thought my locker was lost when you didn't show up," said Brittany to Santana, as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Santana didn't answer her and she looked away from me.

"Hey Jelly, thanks for finding my girlfriend for me," she says, with a big smile.

My breath catches in my throat. Santana finally looks at me as she realizes what was said. I put my hands on my knees and pretend to stretch out my back.

"Yeah, no problem Brit," I say, looking back at them, "anytime." Just then, a group of Cheerios I didn't know walked up behind them. They didn't look like the cute, prancing cheerleaders you usually saw dancing around. These ones looked a little meaner. I stood a little straighter, figuring these girls were at my place the night of the slushy.

"We should probably get going if we're going to finish prom shopping," said Brittany. She seemed to have gained a little more confidence since last Thursday.

"Who will you be taking to the prom Jelly?" She said, moving closer to me.

"I have to work that night, unfortunately," I said, not backing down. I kept my hands on my hips.

"Hmm, seems like a bit of an excuse for someone who can't find a date," she states. I'm not really sure what her point or her problem is. Santana is standing behind her with her arms crossed. It's weird how things change in an instant in High School. One second, everyone's friends, the next, you're waiting for someone to throw the first punch.

"Let's go, I want lunch before we shop," Santana finally speaks, as Brittany and her crew were moving in. Brittany backs up, "okay babe, whatever you want," she says, not looking away from me. I look over Brittany's shoulder at Santana. We hold each other's eyes for a short moment before she quickly looks down and starts to walk away. Brittany follows her, as does the group of Cheerios, each bumping into me as they leave. One bumps me hard and I drop my iPod. I'm too rattled from seeing the unhappy look on Santana's face to care. I bend over to pick it up and instead sit down leaning against the wall, the familiar feeling of heartbreak returns.

It's Saturday night and I'm just getting home from work. My phone has been beeping non-stop from Marley and Sugar showing me pictures of their prom hair and dresses. They look amazing, both of them continually asking me if I'm coming. I reply with the same answer I had been giving for the past three hours and head into Tony's.

"Hey kid! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at prom?" He asks.

"Really, Tony? You too? Do I look like a person who owns a prom dress?" I ask in return.

He laughed and asked, "What will it be?"

I laughed and told him the regular and sat down while he started it.

"I haven't seen your friend around much," he started, "come to think of it, I haven't seen you around much."

"Yeah, I've been working and putting in some extra hours," I reply.

"And your friend?" He asked with a smirk.

"Busy, I guess, probably with her on-again girlfriend," I state.

He nods his head. "What was with the slushy all over your door the other day?" he asks, a little more serious this time. I forgot Tony was always up at the crack of dawn, of course he would have seen it.

"Just a prank from some of the kids at school," I lie.

"Jamie? I'm Italian, I can spot a liar miles away!" He catches me. I watch him as he chops the vegetables.

"I guess, Santana's girlfriend thought I was trying to step in between them," I admit.

"Were you?" He asks not looking up.

"No...yes...I mean, no. I didn't know they were back together. I thought she was single; she was just crashing at my place. She has a million times before," I realize I'm rambling as I try to justify what happened. Tony smiles and stops to give me a look.

"You like this girl?" He asks point blank.

"Yeah, I like her," I answer.

"But do you l-i-k-e her?" He spells.

Now it's my turn to laugh, "you know Tony, you're worse than a girl sometimes," I say, shaking my head.

"I'm just saying, if you liked this girl enough, you would fight for it," he says nonchalantly. I sit there thinking it over.

_There's nothing to fight over. She's made her choice. Hasn't she?_ I shake my head.

"There's nothing to fight over," I murmur. He smiles and nods.

"It's on the house kid, go easy on her, sometimes people can't see what's truly in their hearts. I've seen her look at you," he says.

"Okay, easy love guru," I say, smiling and leaving his tip.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says with a wave.

As I finish my dinner, after a quick shower and change, my phone is vibrating around the table again. When I look down, I see the text;

**Marley: Hey, you know what my one prom wish would be?**

I text her back.

**Jamie: I have no idea. But I bet you're going to tell me. **

**Marley: I would love to have a picture of me and my best friend at her senior prom. **

**Jamie: Aww, that's cute. But I don't have a dress :(**

**Marley: I would take it with you in your pjs.**

I look down, for some reason I'm thinking track pants and my McKinley Athletic Department t-shirt wouldn't cut it.

**Marley: Please?**

I sit there thinking about it. I really don't want to. But I do miss them, since I haven't been able to hang out.

**Jamie: Okay, fine! Give me a sec to figure out something to put on and fix my hair. **

**Marley: You're the best! I can't wait! See you soon. **

I get up and head to my room. I start looking through my closet. Nothing. I have nothing to wear. Finally, I decide on my black dress pants and light purple dress shirt. I reach to the back of my closet to find my only pair of heels. I look at my mess of hair, I brush the blonde strands and crunch my fingers through it. Still a mess, but I'll call it messy chic for now. Once I was feeling somewhat okay with the decision of going, I text Marley.

**Jamie: I'll be there in tenish minutes. Meet me outside; I don't want anyone to see me!**

**Marley: Is there a certain anyone you don't want to see?**

**Jamie: Just meet me outside smart-ass. Lol**

I grab some gum from the counter, take one last look at my self and try to strut my way to the car in my heels. Once I arrive at school, I reconsider my decision to wear heels, my sneakers were in the backseat. No I can do it, I tell myself, it's one picture. I text Marley to let her know I'm here and she says she's out by the track. I start in that direction.

When I get close enough, I see a group of people. Ugh, I thought she wanted one picture. I contemplate turning around before she sees me.

"Jamie!"

Dammit, so much for running. Marley comes towards me and gives me a hug.

"I thought it was going to be just you and me," I ask, trying to see who was there.

"Well, Sugar wanted to see you and the plan kind of changed when Santana heard you were coming. She wanted to see you too," she said, finishing quieter and not looking at me.

"Mar, I can't do this. I'm going to go," I say and start for my car.

"Okay, okay," she says, "I lied to get you here. Santana wanted to talk to you but knew you wouldn't come if she text you. I'm sorry."

I just stand there looking at her. I want to throw up a little. I want to go home. I don't want to have this talk.

"You look awesome, by the way," she says, as she nudges my elbow.

I smile at her, as Sugar comes skipping over.

"Jamie! You sexy thang!" She yells.

I laugh. "Come here, let me poke you!" she yells.

I look at Marley, with a questioning glance.

"She means with a flower for your shirt," Marley says with a laugh.

"Oh! Aww, that's sweet," I saying, moving closer while Sug pins me.

"Let's at least get this picture," I say, holding out my phone to Marley's date, who was of the dark and handsome kind.

We stand together and get our picture. It's cute, as we're standing around looking at it. Santana walks up to us.

"Hey Jam," she says, quietly. My stomach instantly turns to butterflies. She looks incredible. Her dress is long and stunningly red, her lips match her dress.

"Wow," is all I can manage.

"Can we talk?" She asks.

"Sure," I say and follow her to the bleachers. She reaches for my hand and I help her up the stairs.

"I've barley seen you at school this week," she finally said.

"Yeah, been busy. Extra shifts at work so I've been trying to get runs in at lunch," I explain.

"Yeah, I see you everyday on the track. That's how I found you the other day. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for...everything," she said, looking down at her hands. All my feelings I've been trying to hide are threatening to reveal themselves. I stand up and lean against the railing to put some distance between us.

"Don't be, it is what it is," I say, trying to sound distant, "you can't help who you fall in love with."

"Do you mean that for you too?" She asks, looking at me.

"What do you mean? I haven't fallen for anyone," I reply.

She stands and moves beside me, "You and I both know that's not true," she says in a low whisper. I stand with my back to the railing, arms crossed.

"If it was true, I probably would have been dragged to this prom and not hiding out here for a picture instead," I say coldly.

"But you're here now," she states.

"Yeah, for my friends, so we can have one last laugh before I leave," I explain.

"Leave? Where are you going?" She asks, looking wildly concerned.

"My coach contacted me, training starts in July, so I have to get settled in Louisville before then."

She looked away and began fumbling with her purse. I want to do so many things in this moment. I pictured this going a million different ways, but maybe the cold and distant way would bring closure; for both of us.

"When?" she asked quietly.

"Exams are this week and after that I have nothing to keep me here. I move on the thirtieth. Tony already has my loft lined up for someone else," I tell her, trying to be normal. It looks like she might say something, but she struggles for the words. I turn to her.

"Have you figured out what you're doing yet?" I ask her, hoping for an answer that will lead her to Louisville.

"Not yet," she clears her throat; her eyes, for the first time, seem empty. I want to do something for her, but can't. I want to beg her to come to Louisville; I want to convince her that coming with me would be amazing. But I can't. It's her choice to make.

"Will I see you before you leave?" she asks, her voice shaking.

"Probably not, everyone will be studying and I need to start making trips with my stuff," I reply.

I see her tears start to fall.

"San," I start, but all words fail me. She nods and starts to walk away, she's holding the railing to steady herself.

"San, wait," I say, moving towards her. I unpinned the flower from my shirt and pin it to her dress.

"You're my best friend, I hope we can at least get back to that," I say, lifting her chin so our eyes would meet.

"I'm going to miss you so much," she said, as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I'm so sorry Jamie," she said into my shoulder.

"Stop, we're fine. I'd rather this moment be about us than a stupid slushy," I say, holding on to her and not wanting to let go.

"I love you Jamie," she said quietly, as she pulled back out of my arms.

I looked at her. She looked down before looking back at me.  
"What?" I ask. Santana shakes her head and runs down the stairs. She disappears back into the school before I can pick my jaw up. I walk back over to Marley and Sugar.  
"Hey guys, I'm going to head home," I tell them, they look at me funny.  
"Okay," Marley said, "You okay Jam? Anything you want to talk about?"  
"Um…not right now, I just need a second. I'm good though," I say. I walk back to my car. I was completely and utterly confused.  
_She loves me? Like friends right? Like how one friend loves another? Why did she look like she wanted to take it back after she said it? Why did I ask why? Why didn't I tell her how I felt back? I wish I had just said it back.  
_I pulled into my driveway and headed inside. I threw my keys on the table and went straight to bed; I changed and fell into bed. My mind was racing. Surprisingly, I fell asleep right away. I was awoken at 3:30am. My phone was ringing. It was Santana.  
"Hey, are you okay?" I ask, wondering and concerned why she's calling so late.  
"Hey, yeah, I'm okay. I just wanted to apologize for earlier, when I said…you know," she explained.  
"You don't have to explain," I say. I'm starting to see that it was a slip of the tongue, to avoid embarrassment on either side, I continue. "I love you too, you were the first person that I had here in Lima. You're my best friend. I just want you to be happy," I say to her.

"I feel the same way Jam. You're so important to me," she replies.  
"You are happy, right?" I ask. There's a long pause before she answers. "San?" I ask again.  
"Yeah…I'm happy," she says hesitantly.  
"Good," I say, "I want to be front and centre when you win your first award."  
I hear her laugh, but it sounds like it's to cover a sniffle.  
"I don't want to say goodbye," she says.  
"Then let's not, let's just say goodnight," I suggest, not ever wanting to say goodbye to her.

"Okay," San says softly.  
"Goodnight Santana," I say.  
"Goodnight Jamie."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Exams came sooner than I realized. I probably should have been studying instead of working last week. I have my final exams tomorrow and Thursday. The last couple of days had been spent cramming, packing and fighting the urge to text Santana. My life has turned into another T. Swift song. Most of my apartment fit into a few boxes. Tony even offered to drive down with my furniture and leftover boxes in his delivery truck. I looked at the calendar, it was hard to believe that today was June 25th; I had five days until I'd be looking at Lima in my rearview mirror. I finished packing another box and went back to studying.

Sugar text me to see when I was studying for English. She was the only student in eleventh grade that was taking twelfth grade English; something to do with her Aspergers. I told her it was my last exam and we text Marley to make a date for tomorrow night to study.

I crammed a little longer for math because it was my toughest exam. It would have been nice if I had San here with me. She always made calculus seem so easy. I pushed the thought from my head and packed up my books. I brushed my teeth and headed to bed.

The next morning, I woke up early to go over my review one more time. As I was going through formulas, there was a knock on my door. I grabbed my hair tie and threw my hair up as I walked to the door.

I pulled it open and was shocked to see Santana standing there.

"How's the studying going?" She asked, holding two cups of coffee and leaning against my door.

"It's math," I said, scratching my head, "could be better."

"Maybe I can help? You up for a three hour power tutoring session?"

"Absolutely," I say, smiling for what felt like the first time in a long time.

She stepped in, handing me a coffee. I looked behind her looking for Brittany.

"She thinks exams are a mini vacation period, she'll be in bed until lunch," Santana explained when she saw me looking for her girlfriend.

"That explains the whole not graduating thing," I murmur under my breath.

"What?" San asked from the kitchen.

"I said I'm glad you're here, I can use the help," I lie.

Santana pulls the other stool beside me and starts flipping through my textbook. She's pointing out different formulas and equations but all I can think about is her.

"Jamie?" She asks, waving her hand.

"You're not even paying attention. You're not going to be able to copy off me for this one you know," she says with a smirk.

I shake my head and smile, "I know, I just need a second, I haven't got my coffee in me yet."

She sits back and takes a sip of her drink.

"You're place looks so different, it's so empty," she says looking around.

"Yeah, it surprisingly packed up pretty easily," I say, taking it all in as well.

"I would've helped if you had called," she said, looking at her cup.

"I know, just figured you'd be busy," I say, brushing it off.

"I always have time for you," she said, placing a hand on my arm.

"You might, but Brittany doesn't," I let slip. I don't want to fight or make it weird, but I want to know why things have changed.

"I know, it's my fault," she replies, "I shouldn't have let her treat you like she has. You and I just got so close, so fast; I think she just became jealous. Whenever I was with you, you would always make me laugh and smile."

"That's how it should be, always," I interrupt.

"Yeah, well," she answers.

"I never wanted to come between you guys, I love being with you and I would rather have you in my life as a friend, than not have you at all," I tell her.

"I know, I feel the same way, there's been so many times that I've wanted to drop what I've been doing and come here," she admitted.

"Why didn't you? You know you're always welcome here," I said.

"I didn't want to put you in an awkward situation with Brit again," she said, not looking at me.

"I can handle Brittany. It sucks that she making you choose between us especially when we're only friends. Even now, you had to sneak over here while she's sleeping. It's not like we've given her a reason not to trust you," I say.

She looks at me, "I'm just trying to make everyone happy," she says.

"When do you get to be happy?" I ask. Neither of us said anything, we sat quietly drinking our coffee.

"We should probably get back to your studying, we both know you need it," Santana said, nudging her shoulder against mine. We both smile a little, knowing how hard it is to argue with one another without laughing. We went back to studying before leaving for our exam two hours later.

I was one of the last out of the exam. I was exhausted and looking to go home for a quick nap before Sug and Marley came over for our exam cram. As I came out of the school, I saw Santana leaning against my car, face to the sun, soaking it up.

"Wow, you really like to get all the bang for your buck eh?" She asked, hearing me walk up.

"Not all of us are secretly crazy smart," I say. I stood facing her. "Thanks for coming to help me study, it definitely helped," I admit, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"Anytime, it's the least I can do considering the last couple weeks," she said moving closer to me, "I do want to make that up to you."

I look at her and nod my head. I'm not really sure where we go from here.

"Can I drive you home?" I ask. She smiled and nodded. We drove most of the way discussing the exam, when I pulled up to her house, I had this weird feeling that it would be the last time I'd see her. It was as if she had read my mind.

"I don't want this to be the last time I see you," she said turning in her seat to look at me.

"That's the last thing I want," I say, "but hopefully we'll have all next year to hang out," I say, optimistically but deep down I can feel sadness starting to take over. I want so badly to lean over and kiss her. I reach for her hand instead; I can feel it trembling. I turn to her and place my other hand on her cheek. She looks down and I lean in and kiss her gently on her soft cheek.

"I'll see you around Santana Lopez," I say quietly, pulling back.

"Don't let me lose you Jamie," she said, pulling my hand up to her lips. We smiled at each other as she got out of the car. I watched her walk up the steps to her house and open the door. She turned to wave and I lifted my hand in response.

"Not saying goodbye is way harder," I tell myself as I drive away.

As I lay on my couch just waking up from my nap, I hear a knock on my door. I jump up, pushing away all the fairy tale endings of Santana and I. I try to tell myself it's not her on the other side of the door, ready to run off into the sunset with me. Secretly still hoping it is, I pull open the heavy door to see my two best friends standing there with food, balloons and books. I smile at them and invite them in.

"We're here for our cram sesh slash goodbye party!" hollers Sugar as she walks toward the kitchen. Marley hands me the balloons and gives me a hug.

"Not that it's goodbye forever, right?" She asks.

"No way," I say with a laugh, "who's going to sneak you guys into all the college parties?"

"That's exactly what I need! College boys! When do you leave?" asks Sugar. We laugh and set up around the island.

Studying had been going well. I wasn't too worried about my English exam but the cramming made me that much more confident.

"So?" Marley said.

"So?" I ask back, laughing a little.

"Have you said all your goodbyes?" She replied.

"Some, I saw most of the lacrosse girls this week and said bye. I have to go see Coach Beiste tomorrow after my exam so I'll talk to her then," I explain.

"Ah, I see," she says, looking back at her books.

"What?" I ask, looking at her smirk.

"Nothing," she says, her smirk growing wider.

"What? You're a dork," I tease.

"Have you said your 'not goodbye' to Santana?" She teased back. I knew I'd regret telling her that part of the other night.

"I saw her this morning actually," I said, playing with my pencil.

"And, how did that go? Give us the details!" Said Sug.

"Well, it was kind of amazing actually," I said, looking at both of them.

"What? Really? Tell us!" Said Marley.

"Well, we met up after the exam, I drove her home and we sat in front of her house, talking. Then she leaned over and gave me the most amazing kiss and told me she wanted to be with me forever," I finish with a shrug.

Both their mouths are hanging open.

"Shut the front door!" Said Marley.

"Hot damn, for real?" asked Sug.

"No! Are you serious? I saw her after my exam and drove her home hoping I wouldn't run into her crazy jealous girlfriend along the way," I reply.

"Jamie! That's so mean, I just saw the perfect love story run through my head," whined Marley.

"Well, what did you think would happen? I've been telling you all along that we were just friends," I say, getting up to get some water.

"I don't know, I just always had high hopes for you guys," said Marley, twirling on her stool to look at me.

"So now what? You going to find yourself some hot coed when you go to college?" Sug asked.

I smile at her and shrug, "guess we'll just have to wait and see," I say, knowing no one would ever come close to San.

We studied until the wee hours of the morning before crashing and calling it a night.

As I walked to Coach Beiste's office after my exam, I stopped to grab the flowers I picked up for her. I stepped into her doorway and knocked.

"Coach? You have a second?" I asked.

"Of course Jam, c'mon in punkin!" She said standing and coming around her desk. I walked up and handed her the flowers, "I just wanted to say thank you for everything you did," I said.

"Aww Jamie, you didn't have to do that," she said, giving the flowers a quick smell.

"I know, but without you, I wouldn't have had a chance in hell at getting scouted. I just want you to know how much it meant to me to have someone believe in me like you did, I haven't had a lot of people in my life who stood by me and I'll never forget it." I looked at her, she was crying.

"Aww Coach! You going to make me squirt a tear," I said, getting up to pass her a tissue.

"Sorry Jam, it's just that I've never had a student like you before," she said, wiping her eyes. "I'm proud of ya, getting up and doing what makes you happy, don't ever stop," she said.

"Thanks Coach Beiste," I gave her a hug. I left her office and headed home to pack the rest of my apartment.

Sunday came quick. It wasn't long before my car was loaded down with boxes and I was heading towards Louisville. Sug and Marley had come over for one more goodbye. There were some tears and promises to visit, which I hope meant more of them coming to see me. As much as I appreciate Lima, with the good times and excitement, there will always be a pull at my heart from this place.

Some miles later, I arrived at the athletics building of Louisville University. The campus was huge; the building alone was as big as McKinley. I got out of the car and stretched a little before making my way inside.

"Um, excuse me," I said, waving to a young woman behind the front desk. She jumped when she saw me and pulled her headphones out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I assured her.

She was stunning; her long, honey brown hair falling around her shoulders and her blue eyes starring back at me.

"That's totally my fault, we're not supposed to listen to music but usually Sunday nights are slow and it helps pass the time," she said standing, "how can I help you?"

"My name is Jamie, I'm moving onto campus for the next semester. I'm here early for preseason training for the lacrosse team," I explained.

"Oh wow, scouts got us a pretty one this year," she said with a slight blush. I felt my own cheeks turn red. She held out her hand, "I'm Lauren, captain of the Louisville Cards Lacrosse team. It's nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you," she said.

"Really? Um, it's nice to meet you too," I said, feeling a little intimidated meeting the captain of my team.

"My shift here ends in fifteen minutes, why don't you fill out your forms and then I'll give you a hand with your move," she offered.

"Oh, you don't have to do that, I'm sure you have better things to do," I say, taking the pen and papers she handed over the desk.

"I insist. We're going to be spending a lot of time together, might as well start now," she said, waiting for my reply.

I finished filling out my information and returned them to Lauren.

"Okay, you're all set," she announced, handing me a set of keys, "these are for your apartment and this card gets you into all the buildings in the athletic village and your student ID," she finished.

"The athletic village?" I ask, looking at her. She smiled.

"Come on, I'll show you around," she said with a laugh. I grabbed my stuff and followed her back out to the parking lot. I moved a couple boxes around and she was able to get into the passenger seat. She sat with a box on her lap while she guided me to the village while pointing out different landmarks along the way. I was beginning to feel completely overwhelmed when Lauren told me to pull into a row of parking spaces across from a row of town houses.

"Wait, this is where I'm living? These are the dorms?" I asked, completely shocked. She looked at me and smiled again, "athletics are taken very seriously at UofL, they're a great source of revenue so the athletes are definitely taken care of," she explained, getting out of the car and walking up to what I assumed was my new front door. I grabbed a box and followed her up the steps, handing her the keys. Balancing the box against her thigh and the door, she pushed through and stepped inside. The house was amazing. I stood at the door taking it in, to my left was a dining area, that was furnished with what looked like enough chairs to host dinner parties. To my right, was a living room; filled with a huge couch and chairs that looked like you would sink into the cushions. Ahead of me was the kitchen. It was bright with warm lights and a breakfast bar. As I was standing there, I realized my mouth had fallen open.

"Wow," I finally murmured, "this is where I'm going to live all year?" I asked, baffled.

"If you're lucky, this is where you'll spend the next four years of your life rookie," said Lauren.

"There's two identical bedrooms upstairs both with their own bathrooms and another downstairs. Usually, there are two or three athletes to a house, but because of your late offer, you're here by yourself, unfortunately."

That's okay," I say, still looking around, "I'm used to being on my own."

"Well, I wouldn't worry, there's always people who register late. Plus, with preseason training, you'll most likely only be here to sleep."

"Will it be another Lacrosse player when someone finally moves in?" I asked, finding myself hoping for some company.

"It can be any athlete. We try to keep a sense of community within the village; kind of like an 'everybody knows your name' thing. So we encourage teams to mingle and support one another," she explained, walking out to the car with me for more boxes. "The only separation the school tends to keep when it comes to housing is boys and girls. They tried a year or two ago to have it split up by sexual orientation but couldn't get it to stick, luckily," she said, looking at me as if subtlety asking.

"Yeah, luckily. Sounds good to me," I confirm.

"Is this all you have?" She said, looking at the few boxes left.

"A friend is bringing the rest once I'm settled, although I guess I won't be needing furniture," I say, making a mental note to tell Tony.

"Did you want to take a walk around? I can show you where to get some food," she offered, "unless, you want to get straight to unpacking?"

"No, food sounds good. I'm starving actually," I said, grabbing a sweater since the night was beginning to fall. We walked along the road deeper into the village. The athletic town made the actual campus look tiny. Lauren walked beside me pointing out different stadiums and fields. She pointed out the Lacrosse facilities, mentioning with a wink, that they were shared by the field hockey and rugby girls. I laughed. We grabbed some food and began to head back to my house. Along the way, she pointed out her place, which wasn't too far away from mine. She explained that her roommate was also on our team and that they were both pre med students. After another couple roads, we found ourselves back at my door.

"Well, thanks for everything. I really appreciate it," I say.

"No problem, did you need help unpacking?" She asked.

"Oh no, I can't bother you with that. Seriously, you've done more than enough, especially helped with my nerves," I admit.

"Anytime, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask," she said. "Oh and don't forget this," she started digging through her bag. She pulled out a package of paper, "this is your training schedule, as well as a list of times when you can pick up your new gear and meet the coaches," she explained handing me the stack of paper.

"Least you have a day to settle in before training starts, I'd find some time to rest up if I were you," she said with a wink as she started down the steps.

"Thanks again Lauren," I yell from the door.

"Don't mention it, night!" She said with a wave.

The next day brought rain. I wasn't too bothered, it gave me time to set up my room and get rid of some boxes. After lunch, I decided to run over and pick up my new gear from the Lacrosse stadium. I met the assistant coach and the trainer from my team. The trainer didn't seem too impressed that I was out running in the rain. However, she was quickly hushed when the coach explained that training happens rain or shine. I nodded and lifted the bags over my shoulder. I headed back to the house, excited to check out my new stuff. There was training outfits and tees, along with sweaters, a jacket and new pads and gloves. My favorite was the brand new stick. The netting was Cardinal Red; I couldn't wait to get out on the field.

That last thought haunted me for the rest of the week. The training schedule was the most intense workout I have ever been through. We started at precisely seven o'clock every morning, starting with a half marathon run. After this, field drills and lunch, followed by rigorous cardio and passing drills. I barley had enough energy to shower before falling into bed every night when I returned home at eleven. This was probably the reason I hadn't noticed the extra stuff lying around my house. I came home Saturday night after my last practice before our one day off, to see another duffel belonging to a member of another team. I looked around hoping to find out a little more about my new roommate before leaving a note. It read:

Hey,

Sorry about the mess, I'll move my stuff out of your way tomorrow. Glad to finally have some company,

Sincerely,

Your new roommate

I headed upstairs, stopping briefly at the opposite door to listen for movement. I heard soft snoring and assumed my new housemate was exhausted after her move. I headed to the shower, stripping as I walked through my room. I stopped in front of the mirror to check out my war wounds. I had a couple of nice bruises forming on my right side and a long scratch from a tumble with what seemed to be my new Roberta. I stood under the hot water and let it relax my muscles. I stumbled out of the shower, toweling off as I made sure my door was locked. I had no time for pajamas and fell into bed naked.

The next morning, I woke up realizing I had slept half the day away. Judging by my screaming muscles, I'd say my body needed it. I stepped back into the shower to let the hot water steam the pain away. When I was finished, I wrapped the towel around myself and tied my wet hair into a sloppy bun. I opened my door a crack and stopped to listen. When I didn't hear anything, I stuck my head out and saw my roommate's door open and her bed made. I stepped out, wanting to run downstairs to grab some orange juice and fruit before returning to my bed. I began creeping down the stairs, holding onto my towel. I stopped on the bottom step and listened again before turning the corner to the kitchen. Nothing. She must be out picking up equipment. I move into the kitchen and open up the fridge, after a week in the new place I'm finally remembering where everything is. As I'm filling up my glass with juice, a voice from behind me makes me jump out of my skin, dropping my glass that tumbles to the floor.

"I didn't realize it was toga Sundays in Louisville," she said. I whipped around and the sight before me makes me drop the carton of juice as well. Was I dehydrated and delusional, or was Santana Lopez actually standing in front of me?


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

I stood in a puddle of orange juice in the middle of my new kitchen.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" I asked, beyond surprised to see Santana standing in front of me. She was smiling as she took in my situation. I sighed,

"Wait, let me go put on some clothes, this won't be a very good first impression if my new roommate walks in," I say, slipping back up to my room. "I'm super happy you're here though." I went to hug her and caught myself. Clothes first, then hug, I think.

"Jam, wait!" Santana said, laughing.

"I'll be one second," I promised. _What is happening? At least she seems happy to be here; it is probably a nice break from Lima_, I think to myself. I throw on my track pants and sports bra, grabbing my new UofL long sleeve tee and head back down stairs. Santana had her back to me, bent over, cleaning up the spill.

"Hey, you don't have to clean that, I'll get it," I say, bending down next to her.

"Well I don't want to live in a sticky kitchen," she said looking at me. I laughed.

"Live? How long are you planning on visiting for?" I asked, not sure what the policy was on visitors.

"Haven't you noticed all this stuff?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah, actually I noticed last night when I got home, but with practice I'm out of the house all day. She was in bed when I got home."

"Least we know you're not a snoop," she says, shaking her head. Santana walked over to a box and opened it.

"San? What are you doing? I'm going to look crazy!" I whisper, worried whose ever stuff this was would hear me.

"Really Jamie? Still not getting it eh? she said, pulling out a picture frame and handing it to me. It was a picture of San and I after the lacrosse championship. She had her arms wrapped around me. We look incredibly happy, much like the cute couple I wish we were. I look up at her,

"This is your stuff?" I ask, feeling ridiculous for taking so long to put it together.

"You're looking at your newest Cardinal Cheerleader!" She said throwing her arms up in a cheerleading pose.

"You're kidding," I say, staring at her.

"You're shocked? You should have seen my face when I walked in and saw your stuff! I couldn't believe we had been placed in the same house. I ran right to your room but you weren't home, then we kept missing each other," she said, still smiling, "then seeing your name on your dorky note this morning made me feel less crazy. I wanted to run in and jump on you but I knew you'd be exhausted."

I stepped closer to her and wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her feet off the ground as she fit her arms around my shoulders.

"I'm so happy you're going to be here with me," I said, not being able to control the smile that was planting itself on my face once again.

"Me too," she whispered against my ear. I put her back down and looked at her.

"Wait, this isn't going to work," I say, grabbing her hand.

"Why? This is perfect. You think because we both like girls?" She asked looking at me seriously.

"They told me when I got here that housing was for athletes, what if they find out you're only a cheerleader?" I say, having trouble controlling my grin.

"Really? You're going to start this game?" she says, smacking my arm and laughing.

We sat down together while I had a bowl of cereal. Santana had asked about training and I was filling her in on how I almost threw up my first and second day. She showed me her training schedule, which looked similar to mine, however less drills and on a different field. As I was looking at her intense program, she asked me if I would help her find her coach's office. I agreed and went up to change. We headed into the village looking for her building. As we walked, our shoulders would casually bump into one another's. I was enjoying the thought of her being with me at school so much, I was afraid to ask, but decided that I had to know.

"So San, what made you choose college over New York?" I asked, not wanting to bring up Brittany's name just yet.

"Well, I kept thinking of that talk we had a little while ago about having a back up plan. I just figured you couldn't have a back up plan if you don't have an education. That, and I couldn't let you come out here alone and have all the fun by yourself," she said, bumping my shoulder again. I stop causing her to stop and look at me.

"So what you're saying is, I was gone for a week and you realized how you missed me uncontrollably?" I said smirking at her and raising an eyebrow.

"Easy champ, we need your head to fit through the door whenever we find this building," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me along.

"You're not denying it," I say, smiling at her.

"Of course I missed you. I missed you before you left," she admitted.

We walked a little further until we found the cheer building. I followed Santana inside where she met her head coach. She looked like a younger, more normal version of Sue Sylvester. She shook Santana's hand as they exchanged pleasantries, then she turned her attention to me.

"And you are?" She asked.

"Oh, Uh, Jamie, but I'm just tagging along," I explained.

"You don't want to be a Cheerleader and support your school?" She continued.

"Um, you know, I'd love too, but I've already made a previous commitment," I reply.

"That's a shame, you have a stunning frame, you'd do well in competitive cheer," she complimented.

"Thanks," I say unsure and chancing a look at Santana, who was a second away from bursting out in full-blown laughter.

"As for you Miss Lopez, I look forward to seeing your skills on the field. Your stuff is in the corner, don't forget it," she said, turning back to San.

"Thank you Miss, I'll see you tomorrow," she said, grabbing her stuff and handing me a bag. We barely made it outside the office before we both started laughing.

"Can you imagine me as a cheerleader, I'd be too busy checking out the competition!"

We started to walk home, neither saying much until I finally spoke up.

"So, what's the deal with you and Brit, if you're going to be out here?" I say, finally asking, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"We're good, we're going to try the long distance thing," she said, not hesitating.

"Oh, I see," I replied.

"What?" She asked, "You don't think we can do it?"

I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell her that long distance never works out and that she should start in Louisville with a clean slate and give us a chance; but instead I smiled and said, "I feel like you can do anything."

She smiled and we went back to our quiet walk. I felt, as I normally did, discouraged at the chance of our relationship progressing. Maybe it was finally time I moved on and stopped waiting for something I'd never have.

When we finally got back, I helped her move some boxes up to her room, before heading to my space to clean up a little. I was hanging up some laundry when Santana knocked on my door. I turned around to find her leaning against the wall, wearing her new uniform.

"Wow, you look amazing," I say, unable to tear my eyes off her.

"Are you sure? It feels weird not having McKinley on it," she said, running her hand across the letters that read 'Cards'.

"Absolutely. It'll take some getting used to; not that I'll ever get used to seeing you in that," I said, wanting to take it back as soon as I said it and blushing. Santana blushed as well, "is that how you feel about your new team?" She asked.

"I miss my old one but it's a chance to move forward and meet new people," I laugh, realizing how cheesy that sounded, "expand your horizons, you know, that stuff."

She laughs and walked to my bed and lies down. I lay down next to her and she grabbed my hand.

"You think we'll be okay here?" She asks.

"I know as long as you're here with me, I'll be just fine," I reply.

"Good," she says looking over at me, "I better head to bed, tomorrow is going to kick my ass."

"Yeah, good call," I say, wishing she would stay.

The next week proved as crazy as the last, training continued to bring long days. I barely saw San, while my training began to end earlier, hers went later and we both were falling into bed at the end of the day. We finally caught up with each other on Thursday. I was lying on my bed when I heard Santana's shower stop. I made sure to give her enough time to get dressed before I went to see her.

"Hey sunshine," I said, standing in her doorway.

"Hey you," she said, smiling.

"Well, you can still muster a smile, that must be a good sign," I replied, moving towards her bed. I flop down on the end next to her.

"I think I'm dying," she said, as she stretched her legs, "I literally couldn't feel my legs on my way home tonight. However, I only felt like my lungs would explode twice today, so that must be an improvement," she said, turning to look at me.

"I think it gets a little easier, but that could be the endorphins talking," I say, looking back at her.

"I feel like I haven't seen you much this week," she said, her eyes closing.

"I know, it's crazy," I say, feeling my body starting to relax. I know I should get up but I'm so tired I can't peel myself off the bed.

When I wake, Santana is curled into me with my arm around her waist. I find her clock, 3:49am. I start to get up to head back to my room, when a hand pulls my arm.

"Don't go," she murmurs, not fully awake. I know I should, but I can't. I lay back down next to her and she moves her body against mine, taking my hand in hers. I've never felt so at home. How can something that feels so right, be so wrong?

I heard my alarm a few hours later sounding from my room. I took in my situation and didn't want to move. Santana's head was resting on my shoulder, while her hand was still entwined in mine. As I lay there, finding the energy and motivation to move, Santana began to stir. Suddenly, she rolled over and smacked her alarm clock. When the annoying buzz didn't stop, she lifted her head and looked around, "what the hell? What is happening?" She asked, still half asleep.

I laughed a little. "It's my alarm. I'll go turn it off," I say, finally rolling out from under her.

"No, you're so warm. Don't leave," she says into her pillow.

"We both have practice soon. Want to do dinner tonight," I whisper before leaving.

"Yeah, sounds good," she says, pulling the blankets up around her chin.

I take one more look at her before heading out. _If only everyday started off this way_, I think to myself.

Practice was easier today; after our run we spilt into two teams and had a scrimmage. The team looks pretty good. I was looking forward to dinner tonight and hearing about San's first week. I was home before her, as usual. I threw my stuff in the laundry room to be washed for my next week of insanity and then jumped in the shower. When I got out, I could hear Santana talking to someone. I felt a grin reach my face, I thought about going to dinner with two cheerleaders; not bad for my first month at college. I got dressed for dinner and threw on my best sneakers. My hair was doing its crazy after shower wave thing, so I decided just to throw it up in my usual messy bun. I practically skipped down the stairs, having trouble controlling my excitement. As I turned the corner into the kitchen, it was felt like I walked I into a wall; sitting at the table was Brittany. She was grinning ear to ear while Santana was telling her about her first week. I tried to sneak back upstairs before they saw me.

"Hey Jelly, miss me?" She asked, before I had the chance.

"More and more everyday Brit," I said, getting a glass of water.

"Hey Jam, do you mind if Brit comes to dinner with us? I want to show her around," asks San.

_Seriously?_ I think to myself. Okay, quick thinking time. Time to abort this mission.

"Yeah, about dinner, I don't know if I'm feeling up to it. I'm pretty tired. I think I might just grab some food and head to bed," I say, trying to avoid eye contact with Santana so she can't tell I'm lying.

"Really?" She asks looking at me.

"Yeah, besides, I'm sure Brit wants to spend time with her girlfriend," I say, looking at Brit, who still had a huge grin on her face. Ugh, what I'd give to wipe that grin off for her.

"Are you sure? You're all dressed like you're ready to go out," San asks, moving a little closer but appropriately far enough away. I look at her, which was my mistake; before I looked away she could tell by my eyes.

"I'm sure, I guess it just hit me. I'll see you later," I smile and head back up to my room. I hear Brittany downstairs giggling as they leave. I lay down on my bed; frustrated.

A moment later, Santana comes through my door and stands in front of me, "I'm sorry Jam, I didn't know she was coming," she says quietly.

"Yeah, no, I understand, it's cool, really," I say, leaning up on my elbows.

She moved closer so that her legs were in between mine. She leaned down to hug me.

"You're the best," she said, stepping back towards the door. I just smiled as she turned to go.

"Yeah, feels like the best," I mumbled.

I stood up to get undressed when my phone went off. I went to check it.

**Lauren: Hey Rookie, you had dinner yet? Teams getting together at the south pub. Meet us there?**

I replied back saying I'd be there in fifteen. I threw on a fresh t-shirt and decided to straighten my hair.

Ten minutes later, I grabbed my keys and fake ID and headed to the south pub. When I got there the whole team and the two other rookies were there.

"Rookie's here!" Yelled Sammy, she was a defense and very loud. I laughed and walked up to say hi.

"Hey Rook," I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to find Lauren standing behind me.

"Hey Lauren, thanks for invite," I say.

"Don't thank me yet," she replied. I looked at her funny, not quite sure what she meant by that. Before I had time to ask, Sammy had brought over two drinks and was handing both to me.

"Drink up buttercup!" She hollered, before helping me tip back both glasses.

"Ugh, what was that?!" I ask, after a second to hold it down.

"A special blend Rookie, no questions!" Sammy replied.

"It changes every week," said Lauren, who was standing a little closer now.

"She can never remember what is it," she explained, laughing. Lauren handed me another drink, "it's tradition that the rookie has a drink with everyone on the team."

"That's not a bad tradition," I say, accepting the drink.

"Wait until the morning, cheers!" She said clinking her glass with mine.

"Cheers," I replied.

The night continued and I was about half way through the team and their drinks. It was a good icebreaker; I was able to get to know the team better. Although, I wasn't sure if it was the drinks or just me, but I could have sworn I kept catching Lauren checking me out.

_It's hard to tell, cause at this point, I'd be checking myself out. Uh oh, how many drinks have I had?_

We started dancing and I had two more people to meet up with when Lauren came over to dance with me.

"How ya feeling Rookie?" She said with a smirk.

"I'm feeling pretty good about myself," I said, laughing a little.

"Me too, and I've only had half of what you're drinking, so I can imagine," she agreed.

We continued dancing and the last two girls brought their drinks over, we stood around chatting while I gulped them back. Once I was done, Lauren leaned towards me and whispered in my ear.

"Want to get out of here?" She asked.

I looked at her; she looks pretty serious. Santana flashes in my mind but I push it away, I'm tired of waiting around.

"Okay," I answer. Lauren smiles and grabs my hand, leading me out of the pub.

"My place?" She asks.

I didn't have a chance to answer as she pushed me up against the side of the pub and kissed me. When she pulled away, I was left breathless. She smiled.

"Is that a yes?" she asked.

I grabbed her shirt and pulled her back to me. We kissed again, this time a little harder.

We finally made it to Lauren's, as we stepped through the door, my shirt was already being pulled off after Lauren had peeled hers off. She led me to the couch and straddled my legs. Her hands were tangled in my hair, as she kissed my neck. My hands were on her back; her skin was so soft. Her mouth found mine again, as we were about to move upstairs her front door opened and in walked Sammy.

"Ay oh!" Check this scene out!" She said to another girl I didn't recognize. "Guess I owe you a twenty dolla bill yo!" She said to Lauren as she pulled this girl, who was starting to look like Rachel Berry upstairs.

Lauren shook her head.

"Sorry about that," she apologized.

"It's all good. What does she owe you for?" I ask.

"We had a bet on who would get you back to our place first," she admitted.

"Oh really? Well, I guess you owe me half then," I said, with a smirk. She smiled at me and slipped a hand into my pocket.

"Want to come upstairs?" she asked.

"I should probably get back," I say, grabbing my shirt, "I have a friend coming to drop off some stuff tomorrow."

"Okay, maybe next time then," she said, giving me one last kiss.

"Night," I said, as I stepped out into the cool night air. I made it down her steps and stumbled onto the sidewalk. I guess I didn't feel those last couple of drinks until now. I used the fence as support since I was starting to see two sidewalks.

"Jamie?" I heard from across the street, "what are you doing out here?" I recognized Santana's voice as she got closer.

"Hey San, just out for a walk. What are you out for?" I slurred my words a little.

"Are you drunk?" she asked, wrapping her arm around my waist to help me balance.

"I was looking for you. When I got home, I went to see if you were okay and I got worried, I've been everywhere." She stopped when she noticed my shirt. She let me go and crossed her arms. I tried walking on my own but only managed to stumble.

"Hey get back over here," I said, trying not to giggle.

"Did you go out like that?" She said, pointing at my shirt. I looked down at my inside out t-shirt.

"Dammit, this always happens?" I said, "it wasn't like that when I left."

"Where were you?" She said, coming closer again.

"The team called and asked me out to dinner, they have traditions," I explained.

"What kind of traditions includes taking your shirt off?" She asked.

"Oh that wasn't a tradition, that was a bet. And I think I'm owed a lunch," I said, with a wink. Santana looked annoyed.

"Where's Brit the tit?" I asked.

"Yeah? That's all you got tonight?" She said with a grin, "she's sleeping."

"Ah, I see. And yeah, that's all I got right now. I thought it was pretty good. How much further?" I ask, squinting my eyes.

"We're here," she said, holding my arm to guide me up the stairs.

"So, who did you hook up with tonight?" Santana finally asked.

"I didn't hook up, I just kissed her," I said, struggling up the last step.

"Since when does kissing involve removing your shirt?" She asked.

I looked down again, "hmmm, must have been one hell of a kiss," I said with a shrug, "it was Lauren."

"Really? Your captain?" She asked, surprised.

"Hey, this could have been all yours," I said, pointing at my tag that was sticking out, "Murr, I need to lie down."

"Yeah, I know," I hear her whisper, as she helps me into my bed.

"You should take your stuff off your not going to be very comfortable," she suggests, "let me help you."

"Okay," I say, sitting back up, which makes the room spin faster. She lifted my shirt over my head.

"Lie down," she says. My room is spinning faster and faster. I feel Santana fussing with my belt and then sliding my jeans down my legs and she pulls the blanket up around me. She sat down next to me.

"Are you okay?" She asks, handing me some water, "drink this."

"I could be better," I say, taking a sip and closing my eyes. I put my hand on her leg, "we would be perfect San."

"What do you mean? We are perfect," she said, leaning to brush a hair out my eyes.

"Perfect together. I love you more than anything Santana Lopez. I've fallen in love with you and just can't get up," I said, as the world went black.

I woke up at lunch to knocking on my door.

"Morning," Santana said in a soft voice.

"Ugh, stop yelling," I said from under my pillow. She came and sat on my bed.

"Here take these," she laughed, handing me an aspirin. I pulled my head out from my pillow and sat up.

"What the hell? I feel like poop," I said, realizing I wasn't wearing much clothing and pulling the blanket up.

"Yeah, you were pretty fun last night," she said, "Do you remember much?" She asked.

I thought about my night. "I remember hanging out with the team, then hanging out with Lauren. I remember you helping me home, but don't know where you came from," I said.

"Do you remember talking when we got home?" She asked. _Uh oh, I'm sure that went over well. _

"Not really, I have a feeling I probably said something inappropriate," as I'm admitting this, 'Brit the tit' rings in my head.

"Ugh, Brit the tit. Guess I'll apologize for that one now," I say, with a bit of a laugh. She laughed too.

"Anything else?" She prodded. _Crap, how long did we talk for? _

"Um, no not really. Did I say something rude? I'm sorry for that too," I say, waiting to hear.

She looked down, then looked back at me, "no, nothing unlike Jamie," she said with a smile.

"Where's Brit?" I ask; drinking the tea San had brought up for me.

"She left early this morning."

"Oh damn, I didn't get to say goodbye," I said with a grin.

"Now, now," she said. "I made some soup, want to do lunch in bed with a movie?" She asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I say, getting up.

"You stay here, I'll get it. Maybe put on some clothes," she said with a smirk.

I smiled at her as she got up to leave.

"You sure I didn't say anything out of line?" I ask, taking in her unusual quietness.

"No, nothing out of line," she said. She paused at the door before heading downstairs.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

**Hey guys, sorry Thursday morning turned into Thursday night! Hope you like it this one. I'll try to get the next one up within the week. :)**

Thankfully I had recovered from my hangover before training started up again on Monday, for the most part. However, running half a marathon after my weekend proved more challenging, which the team found very amusing. As I was running back from our half waypoint, our coach drove up beside me on her golf cart and shouted, "Hurry up Rookie! If you're the last one back you do another ten laps!"

The thought of having to run even more made my stomach turn. As soon as coach was out of sight, I threw up in the nearest bush. Lauren, who was running slightly ahead of me, stopped and came back.

"Hey Jam, you okay?" she asked, handing me some water.

"Oh yeah! Just great," I said, passing her back her bottle and starting to run again, "just dying a little."

I heard her chuckle behind me as she started to jog again. I kept running, but I knew I was still last. I could see our field and saw the girls stretching from the run, as I jogged up I saw Coach heading my way.

"You can do your laps after practice," she said, "I want to get started on drills.

"Sure Coach," I said, bending over to catch my breath.

"Not you Jamie. Docker," she said, as she headed over to the rest of the girls. I looked behind me; Lauren was standing on one leg stretching.

"You didn't have to do that," I said between gasps for air.

"Don't worry about it. It's kind of my fault anyway," she said with a wink.

We walked over to the rest of the girls and continued with practice.

When Coach finally blew the last whistle, I was lying on the grass. Lauren started her extra laps and I lay there watching, unable to move. After she finished two laps, I got up and started running beside her.

"You don't have to do this, I was last," she said.

"Hardly, you weren't even winded when you finished," I replied.

She smiled, "Still, you don't have to keep me company."

"Shut up, Doc, " I said, as I tried to keep pace with her, "I can't talk and run."

"Rookie and Doc?" She asked, speeding up, "that's kind of cute, they can call us Rocker."

I looked at her and shook my head.

"Easy, lets just make it through the next six laps," I tell her.

When we finished, I was exhausted. I didn't think I was going to make it home. I went into the locker room to change, hoping the hot water would soothe my muscles enough to last the walk. As I was standing under the water, I heard footsteps in the stall next to me.

"Jam?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"You going to make it?" Asked Lauren.

"I think so," I said, still standing under the water.

"You should probably eat and head to bed," she said, as her water started.

"Yeah, or maybe just some aspirin and bed," I replied, feeling the muscles in my legs start to ease slightly.

"I may or may not owe you some food," She said.

"Oh yeah. I'd hold you to that but I don't think I'd be much company tonight," I said through the water.

"I'm a pretty good masseuse," she suggested, "and I drove here."

"You drive a hard bargain," I answered, "okay, sounds good."

It wasn't that I didn't want to have dinner with Lauren. I kept telling myself I needed to move on, Santana was not leaving Brit anytime soon. It was just proving harder to act on. The drive home sounded pretty awesome though. I dressed and sat waiting for Lauren, she came out a few minutes after me.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said, standing and opening the door for her.

On the way home, Lauren stopped and ran in to the food hall and grabbed us dinner. She set us up on the couch.

"Movie?" She asked.

"Okay," I said, not knowing if I'd be able to stay up for a whole movie.

We ate and talked about the upcoming season, the different teams and things. When I finished eating, I leaned back into her couch and shortly after fell asleep. I was woken up by my phone ringing. When I sat up, I realized I had been covered up and was leaning into Lauren, who had also fallen asleep. I reached for my phone and checked the caller ID. It was Santana. I looked at the clock, 2:07am.

"Hey," I answered.

"Hey, where are you? Are you okay?" She asked, sounding panicked.

"Yeah, I'm good. I was super tired after practice and Lauren offered to drive me home," I explained.

"Lauren?" She asked.

"Lauren Docker, my captain," I explain, figuring she already knew who I meant.

"Okay...so where are you?" She asked again.

"Oh, we stopped to get food and fell asleep watching a movie after," I say, realizing.

"Oh," she hesitated.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, when she paused.

"Uh, yeah...everything is fine," she said quietly, "just worried when you didn't come home."

"Yeah, sorry. I guess I could have sent a text," I said.

"No, it's fine. I was just making sure you were okay," she said.

"San, you sure you're okay?" I asked, she was quiet.

"I'll be home in five minutes."

"No, you don't have to do that. I'm fine, really. Stay. Have fun," she tried.

"We're just sleeping. I should leave anyways. See you in a few." I hung up and looked at Lauren. She seemed to be still sleeping. I stood up and pulled the blanket back over her, she stirred a little.

"Are you leaving? You can stay, we can go upstairs, more room," she said sleepily.

"No, I should go, I don't want to take up your bed," I replied.

"We could cuddle. We'd have plenty of room," she said, standing, stretching and smiling.

"Maybe next time Doc," I say, smiling back.

"Okay, you want me to drive you home?" she offered.

"No," I laughed, "it's down the street. Go to bed."

She leaned in and kissed my lips.

"I had fun," she said, opening the door.

"Me too, thanks for dinner," I said, stepping out into the night air.

"Night," she said.

"Good night."

I started walking down the road towards my place. I started thinking about Santana. She had been acting weird since Friday. I wish I could remember what we talked about. It seems like it might have thrown her off.

What could I have said to her that would do that? It's not like I told her I loved her.

"Holy damn," I whispered to myself, stopping.

"I told her I loved her." I started running, although I have no idea why. What can I possibly say to her now? 'Oops? Just kidding'. Why did I do that? I made it to the door and was standing outside, hesitantly. I unlocked it and pushed inside. The kitchen light was on, but she wasn't there. I walked upstairs; her door was closed.

"San?" I said, knocking quietly on her door. I waited for an answer. I figured she fell asleep and started to my room. As I opened my door, hers opened behind me.

"Hey," I said, softly.

"Hi," she answered, standing in her pajama shorts and tank top.

"San, I'm so sorry," I started.

"It's fine, I shouldn't worry so much," she interrupted.

"No, about Friday," I said, she kept looking at me, "for telling you I love you."

Her lips parted, she realized that I remembered.

"I mean, I'm not sorry. Just sorry for saying it," I said, trying to explain. I waited for her to say something but she never did. I started to try and explain further, but she cut me off.

"I just don't understand, if you love me why are you hooking up with Lauren Docker and having late night snacks with her?" she asked.

I looked at her. I was kind of shocked by her question. What did she want me to say?

"Because you don't love me back," I said quietly, looking down.

"I'm trying to move on so that I don't lose you by saying stupid things like on Friday." I can feel myself becoming upset; or is it anger? Why doesn't she get this? She's had to known I've had feelings for her for a while. If she's going to be with Brittany, I can't just sit around and wait.

I look up at her and she looks like she wants to say something but can't or doesn't know how. I help her by turning and heading to bed.

"Jamie, I do love you," she says, stopping me immediately. I turn around and look at her.

"But I love Brittany too. I don't want to lose either of you. I can't," she finishes. She moves towards me, but I put my hands up and stop her.

"Why would you say that?" I ask, shaking my head. It's the only thing I've been waiting to hear since I moved to Lima but now it just confuses me.

"You don't love me Santana. I'm okay with that. We're friends and I love being your friend. So lets just drop this before anyone gets further confused or embarrassed," I say, moving into my room and shutting the door. I hear call my name but I couldn't hold my composure any longer. As soon as my door shut, I lost my breath. I turned out the light and crawled into bed. I needed to escape this crazy reality.

The days following our conversation were quiet. We didn't see each other because of practices and when we did, it was only for a moment. Eventually, things went back to normal, almost as if that conversation or the one leading up to it never happened. We fell back into the roll of best friends. We worked out together, we ate together and soon enough we were studying together.

Santana and I had two classes; Intro to Psychology and Statistics. My other classes were English, American Literature and Biology. It was quite the schedule when it was combined with Lacrosse everyday. It was out first weekend after class started.

"Hey San, want to have a movie slash homework night Saturday?" I ask, hoping she'll be able to help me with my stats homework.

"I would but I have to go home to do laundry again," she answered.

"You do know that we have our own laundry room in our house right?" I replied.

"If I did laundry here, I'd have no reason to go home to see Brit," she explained.

"You need to have a reason other than seeing her?" I asked, smirking.

"You know what I mean," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, that sounds riveting. When are you leaving?" I ask, thinking about what to do by myself now.

"I'm going to go tomorrow morning, hopefully miss some traffic," she said, "want to have movies and homework tonight?"

"Um, sure. Let me just text Lauren and reschedule for tomorrow," I say, pulling out my phone.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Santana make a face. I turn on my stool, "you know, you'd probably like her if you just gave her a chance," I say, over my shoulder. I wait for a text back, which comes seconds later.

**Lauren: aww, I was looking forward to tonight, but okay. Better late, than never ;)**

I laugh at the text. I don't understand how someone could miss me when I see them everyday for hours. I was glad that Lauren took my suggestion to stay friends so well. It just didn't make sense to start dating someone who I essentially had to work with. That was what i told myself anyway, it had nothing to do with my feelings for Santana not going away.

**Thanks Doc, see ya tomorrow. **

"Okay. Homework first, then dinner and movies?" I ask, looking at San.

"Sure, just let me grab my stuff," she said, heading up stairs.

I started getting my books and Santana returned carrying her backpack.

"You know, we don't have to do this," she said, watching me from the doorway.

"What do you mean? No homework?" I ask.

"No, like you and me and homework slash movie night," she explained.

"Oh, you don't want to?" I said, not getting her point.

"No, I mean if you want to hang out with Lauren instead. I get it," she finally said.

"What are you talking about? I cancelled so I could hang out with you. We hardly see each other outside of class, between school and lacrosse and cheerleading. I want to catch up," I say, patting the stool next to mine. She sat down next to me and we started our math homework.

After working through some equations, Santana put her pencil down and looked at me.

"Why did you take a math class again?" She asked.

I put my calculator down and met her eyes.

"So I could sit in class and stare at the smartest and prettiest girl in school," I said, putting my hand on her knee, "then I found out she transferred to chemistry and left me stuck with you," I said grinning and jumping off my stool before she slapped my hand.

"You're such a smart ass," she said laughing.

I brought back two glasses of water.

"This is just like old times," I say, leaning on the counter.

"Yeah, I miss this," she said, taking a sip of her water.

"Me too," I said.

We packed up our books and ordered a pizza. We decided on a comedy and say back into the comfy couch. About half way through the movie, I could feel my eyelids getting heavier. I hardly saw San and didn't want to fall asleep on her. As much as I fought against the exhaustion, I crashed. The next time I opened my eyes, Santana's alarm was ringing. It took me a second to register where I was. I had a heavy weight on my chest and couldn't move my legs. When I looked down to see what was happening, I saw Santana curled up alongside me. As I took in the moment, an arm reached up and over, smacking the phone and turning the alarm off. She laid there a bit longer before sitting up and stretching. I reached for her shirt and pulled her back down.

"Hey, don't leave yet," I whispered.

"I have to," she said, wrapping her arms around me, trying to steal my body heat.

"Maybe just five more minutes," she said resting her head on my chest once again.

I woke up and stretched an arm out for Santana finding only an empty pillow and a note.

**Hey Jam,**

**Try to stay out of trouble while I'm gone. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.**

**Call me if you need me,**

**San 3**

I rolled back over and reached for my phone.

"Anything you wouldn't do?" I said, laughing to myself. I checked the time and decided to get up for a run. I changed into my shorts, grabbed my iPod and hit the kitchen for a small breakfast.

I was half way through my run when my phone buzzed. It was a text.

**Santana: Hey, just wanted to let you know I made it home okay. **

**Good. I'm glad. Have fun while you're there. **

**Thanks, you too. Everyone says hi and can't wait to see you. **

**Aww really? Tell them hi and I'll try for a visit soon. If you need anything, call me :)**

I put my phone away and sprinted home. I jumped in the shower and finished some homework before getting ready to meet up with Lauren.

I pulled my tshirt over my head and looked at my hair. Ponytail? Straightener? I shrugged my shoulders and plugged in my straightener.

"Go big or go home I guess," I said to my reflection.

Once I was done, I have myself one more look to make sure everything was in place and headed out the door.

Lauren met me outside her house.

"Hey Doc," I said, seeing her on the step.

"Hey rookie," she replied.

"So, Sam heard we were hanging out and wanted know if we wanted to go to the south pub," she said, with a grin, "she promised not to let anyone but you shots."

My stomach turned at the thought of my last visit to the south pub.

"Okay, sounds good," I say, pushing it from my mind.

Lauren stood and started walking towards me. She linked her arm with mine and we headed south.

"So when you said no dating, did that include benefits?" She said with a smirk.

"Wow, and the drinks haven't even been poured yet," I said, shaking my head and laughing.

As usual, the team was having a great time together. Everyone seemed to be drinking at a reasonable pace, except Sammy who seemed to always be moving at her own pace. She was currently trying to pick up the waitress. Lauren and I had ten bucks on if she could do it. I said not a chance; she couldn't yell herself into a date. Before I knew it, the waitress was bent over whispering her number into Sammy's ear, while Sammy shot us thumbs up and a wink. My mouth dropped and I handed Lauren her money. We were about to make another bet but my phone started ringing. It was 12:45am and I wasn't expecting a call. I looked down to see Santana's name. My mind begins racing as I try to squirm my way out of the pub.

"Hey. Santana?" I try, still not out of the pub yet and unable to hear a response.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" I hear in the receiver. I take a couple more steps and am released into the crisp night air.

"Hey, sorry. What's up? Everything okay?" I ask.

"It's so weird Jam. Things are so different," she says.

"Of course they are, it was bound to happen," I say.

"No, like Brits changed. She was helping me with laundry and told me about these books she's been reading," San explained, in a hushed tone.

"She joined some religious group at school. They're practicing for an apocalypse. It's really creepy. Apparently it's called the left behind club or something. It's like a cult," she finished.

"Yeah, that sounds weird. Did something happen?" I asked, wondering why she called me when she's supposed to be hanging out with her girlfriend.

"Brit told me I left her behind," she said, pausing. "I guess I just felt guilty, like I made a mistake and I need you to tell me I didn't."

I paused myself, not knowing what to say.

"Well, let me start off by saying I think it's clear that Brit is trying to improve her college application by joining more cults," I said, hoping for a laugh but only getting silence.

"And secondly, you didn't make a mistake and you know that. Deep down, you know that you had to take the scholarship and see what UOfL had to offer. Clearly Brittany did too or she wouldn't have signed you up for the opportunity," I said.

"Yeah, she just seems so sad," she said quietly.

I shuffled my feet and looked around. I adjusted the phone against my ear and tried again.

"Sometimes if you love something you have to let it go," I quoted.

"Really Jamie," said San, laughing slightly.

"This is your only advice, a quote from some movie?" She asked.

"Hey, it's good stuff," I say, feeling a smile of my own.

"You always make me feel better Jam," Santana whispered into the phone.

"Good, now have fun and hurry home," I said.

"Thanks," she said.

"Anytime," I replied.

I went back inside to the party for a little longer. Eventually, everything died down and we headed our separate ways. After some very convincing flirting from Lauren, I stayed strong and dropped her off at her door before heading home to my bed alone. I steered clear of any alcohol tonight and it was just the sleepiness creepy up on me. I unlocked my door and my phone began ringing again. Assuming it was Lauren, trying for one last attempt at a sleepover I answer without looking.

"I can't sleepover, it's against the rules," I say into the receiver. There was no reply. Just sniffles on the other end.

"Hello?" I say into the phone. I look at my phone to see who it was.

Santana.

"San? Is that you? Are you okay?" I ask, having no idea what was happening.

"Jam," she said between sighs.

"Yeah San, I'm here. What's going on?" I say, getting more panicked.

"I did it," she said.

"Did what?" I asked.

"I broke up with Brittany," she said, filling the phone with fresh sobs. My mouth dropped.

"When?" This simple, unimportant question was I could cough out.

"A little while ago, I'm at my moms," she said, returning her breathing to normal.

"How'd she take it?" I ask, still not sure.

"Not well, it sent her into a B. Spears meltdown, she smashed the window in my car," She explained.

"Are you serious? Were you in it? You could've been seriously hurt! Are you hurt?" I ask, feeling my cheeks get red.

"No, I'm fine. But I don't know when I'll be back. I have to look into fixing my car, my parents aren't here," she said.

"I'll come get you, you shouldn't be there alone if she's lost it," I say looking for my keys.

"No, you don't have to do that. It's late," she protested.

"You shouldn't be alone," I said, making my way to the car.

"I'll call Quinn and get her to come stay with me," she suggested.

"I'm already on the interstate," I said, knowing she could hear my smile.

A couple hundred miles and large coffee later and I was standing on doorstep of the Lopez's. I knocked and waited. I heard some scuffling from inside and tried the door, it was open. I pushed it aside and stepped in.

"Brit, that's enough. Would you relax," I heard from the kitchen. When I stepped around the corner, Brittany and Santana were facing one another, and Brittany had something in her hand. The floor creaked, giving away my presence and she turned to face me. She stood there starring at me, holding a huge bucket of cheese puffs. I couldn't help but laugh a little, that was my first mistake. My second mistake was not ducking quick enough as she launched the bucket at my face. It connected with my lip that immediately swelled and started bleeding.

"This is your fault!" she yelled.

"What? You threw the bucket! Did you not think the puffs would spill?" I said, lolling at the mess on the floor.

"I meant you stole my girlfriend," she clarified.

"She's not my girlfriend. I didn't steal her. I'd say you just lost her," I quote her and move closer to Santana to make sure she's okay.

"This is crazy!" Yelled Brit as she stormed out.

Santana was upset but I wanted to give her space. The space didn't last long as she turned and buried her face into my shoulder.

"It'll be fine, she just needs time," I tell her.

"I can't deal, ever since she found out she wasn't graduating she's been different," she mumbled.

"Yeah, c'mon. We'll make sure she gets home okay then head home."

I followed Brittany home as she stumbled her way around the block and then sprinted back to where San sat in the car.

"You okay?" I ask, as I got in and buckled my seatbelt.

"Yeah, thanks for following her home," she said, "even though you looked like a huge creep," she added, with a smirk.

I laugh and start the car.

"Let's go home! We're going to need to rest up! Home opener next week!"


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

**Hey guys! Sorry, these updates are taking longer. School is getting much busier. I will try to get the chapters up a little quicker. I appreciate the reviews; they keep me writing. **

The ride home was quiet. The odd sniffle came from the passenger side, as Santana sat with her hands in her lap, looking out the window. I reached a crossed the car for her hand, which she took without looking away from the window. We were twenty minutes away when I spoke first.

"You okay?" I asked quietly.

She turned, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I don't know," she replied. "I don't know if I made the right decision."

"Well, just give it time. Let things settle and see how you feel in a couple says," I say, "time helps."

She looked at me with a smirk.

"When did you get so philosophical?" she asked.

"I got a quote of the day calendar," I answered smiling.

She shook her head and went back to the window. We pulled up in front of our house at 5:03 in the morning. I got out and grabbed Santana's bag from the backseat. She was still sitting in the passenger seat when I walked around the car. I walked up to the side of the car and opened the door for her.

"You coming in?" I said, stepping aside for her to get out.

"Yeah, I'm coming." she said, looking caught up in a thought.

We walked inside and headed up to our rooms. I walked her to her door and set the bag down beside her. I put my hands in my pockets and looked down, neither of us saying anything. I didn't want to make things awkward between us but it felt like anything I said from here on would make it sound like I was making a move. It wasn't like that for me though. I knew Santana was hurting. On the outside she portrayed this tough and unbreakable person, but on the inside she was just as sensitive as anyone else. I met her eyes. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into me.

"Everything will be brighter in the morning," I said.

I felt her relax a little and she hugged me back.

"What day was that from?" she murmured against my shoulder.

"Last Tuesday. I'll put the calendar in the kitchen. You'll love it."

She laughed and stepped back.

"Thanks for coming to get me tonight," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Anytime," I said, picking her bag back up to hand to her, "unless I have practice the next morning, that may be harder to swing," I said, grinning.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, taking her bag and stepping into her room. I smiled to myself as I walked to my room and flopped down into my bed.

I woke up a few hours later to the annoying sound that Lauren had chosen on my phone for her ring tone. I made a mental note to never let her play with my phone again. When I finally found my phone seconds later, I didn't bother to lift my head to reply.

"Hello?" I answered, my face squished into my pillow.

"Good morning sunshine! Ready for our run?" Lauren asked.

"What run? We have practice?" I ask, shooting straight up to see what time it was.

"Practice? What? No, you said we'd run together this morning," she reminded me.

"Hot damn," I said, relaxing back into my position, "don't scare me like that."

"What are you talking about? Are you coming or not?" Lauren asked again.

"Sorry dude, I completely forgot and something came up when I got home last night. Can I skip the run and just meet up with you later?" I ask, feeling bad for bailing on her.

She sighed, but agreed we would meet up for dinner. I hung up and rolled back under the covers. I didn't mean to fall back asleep; I woke a few hours later and rolled over to check the time, 3:38pm.

"Damn it," I mumbled into my pillow. I was supposed to meet Lauren at 4:00pm. I'm such a slacker. I jump up and head to the bathroom for a shower.

As I was walking out of my room, I stopped and listened for movement from Santana. Nothing.

"Must still be sleeping," I thought to myself.

It was 4:05pm and since I was already late, I thought I'd stop at the store and grab Lauren a surprise for slacking today.

I took the steps up to her house two at a time and knocked. A few seconds later, Sammy answered the door.

"Rooookie! C'mon in!" she said, grabbing me by the shoulders and pulling me inside, "didn't we just hang out last night? I'm starting to think you have a crush on me."

I laughed and shook my head.

"No crush here Sammy, you know I couldn't handle your player ways," I say.

"Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game homie," she said, holding up a peace sign. "If you're not crushing on me, who are the flowers for?"

I looked down at the bunch of flowers I had.

"They're not crush flowers," I explained, "they're 'I'm sorry for being a slacker friend' flowers."

I kept looking at them. Who gets their friends flowers? What was wrong with chocolate?

"I don't know dude, flowers tell a person that you were thinking of them. And that you want them to know, that you know they know that you were thinking about them," Sam said, explaining her flower theory.

I paused for a second to comprehend what she was talking about and was about to make a smart-ass comment when someone spoke first.

"You were thinking about me?" She asked.

I turned around to see Lauren standing on the stairs. I smiled as I noticed she was wearing pajamas.

"I just wanted to say sorry for forgetting about our run this morning and being late this afternoon," I said, watching her take another couple steps before settling on the bottom step.

"I didn't realize this was a pajama party," I said, stepping forward and handing her the bouquet.

"I know, didn't you get my text?" She asked, sniffing the flowers.

I reached for my phone and realized I didn't have it.

"I must have forgot my phone when I rushed out," I admit.

"Oh, I tried to tell you I wasn't feeling good after my run. I was going to ask for a rain check," she said, looking up at me. I sat down beside her and felt her head with the back of my hand.

"Wow, you do feel warm," I replied, "is there anything I can get you? Soup?" I offered.

"Already, on it slick!" yelled Sammy from the couch.

I looked back at Lauren and laughed.

"She's actually a pretty good nurse. She really takes bedside manner seriously," whispered Lauren.

"You're kidding? She's the loudest person I know," I murmur back. We both laughed a little.

"You should get going before I get you sick," Lauren suggested.

I didn't want to leave; I was looking forward to hanging out with her, just us.

"I don't want to leave you like this," I said, rubbing my hand along her thigh.

"I'm fine, really. Sam's got it," she insisted. I found myself getting a little jealous of Sam.

"You sure?" I ask, standing, "because I've seen surgical masks around here. I'm sure I could find one."

She laughed and stood as well.

"I promise. If I need anything, I'll call," she said.

"Okay," I agreed, leaning forward to kiss her forehead before I realized what I was doing.

She walked me back to the door. As I was stepping down the stairs Lauren called out behind me.

"Thanks for the flowers. They're beautiful," she replied.

"I'm glad you like them. Feel better," I called back.

I stopped for a bottle of wine on my way home, figuring that if I felt like a glass, than Santana would definitely be up for one.

I walked into the house and kicked off my sneakers. As I came into the kitchen I almost dropped the bottle of wine. Standing at the stove was Santana; pots and pans surrounded her. The breakfast bar was set for two, complete with a tiny vase that contained two flowers and candles on either side.

"Hey," I said, still standing in the same spot. She jumped a little before turning around.

"Hey you," she replied.

"What's all this? You make up with Brittany already? Is she here?" I ask, looking around the corner to see if she was there.

"No, I just thought I'd make you dinner to thank you for coming to pick me up last night," she said, stirring the array of pots in front of her. I didn't know what to say. I struggled to find my words.

"Come and sit, it's almost ready," she said, reaching for the bottle.

"Can I open this?" She asked.

"I thought we could share it," I said, still taking in the table arrangement.

"It's perfect, it'll go great with dinner," she said, handing the bottle back to me with a corkscrew.

"I always break the cork," she admitted.

I took the bottle and began to work the top.

"You didn't have to do this San," I finally say.

She was about to answer when one of the pots on the stove began to boil over. Santana quickly turned and removed the pot from the burner. I was watching her move around the kitchen; she moved with grace. It reminded me of seeing her on stage. Suddenly, a large crash brought me back to the present. I turned to see Santana holding her hand and a steaming pot upside down in the sink.

"Crap," she yelped. I ran to her.  
"Holy damn, are you okay? I asked, supporting her by the elbow.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My hand was just over the steam," she said, holding out her hand.  
"Let me see," I reply, taking her hand gently in mine. It was red and slightly raised already.

"Maybe we should go to the nurse," I say, trying to look into her eyes.  
"No, I'm fine. Really, it's just a little burn. It's nothing," she assures me, still looking down.  
"Really?" I ask again, "I can call Lauren and get her to come look at-"

"No, it's fine," she snapped, stopping me.  
"Hey," I said quietly, noticing the tears in her eyes, "San, what's going on?"

She laughed, letting the tears fall.

"What's wrong?" she said, finally looking at me. "I can't do anything! I can't cook dinner without wrecking it. I can't drive my own car. I can't keep a relationship!"

I smiled at her, wiping a tear from her cheek.  
"Dinner's not wrecked. There's still plenty of food," I started, looking at the remaining pans.

"And you can't drive your car because somebody vandalized it." I handed her a tissue.

"And it takes two people who are willing to give and take, love and more importantly, support one another," I lifted her chin to look at me again, "You have dreams too, you can't feel guilty for trying to achieve them."

She was fully crying now. I just wanted to help her, I wasn't sure if my words were helping but then she moved into me, wrapping her arms tightly around my shoulders. I threw my arms back around her. I held her securely, letting her know I wasn't going anywhere. We stood there for a long while, not saying anything. I finally heard the music that had been playing in the background; slowly I started moving us back and forth. Santana lifted her head from my shoulder but didn't move away from me.  
"I thought you couldn't dance?" she asked, smiling a little. I stopped swaying back and forth and looked at her.  
"I can't, but I'd try anything to get you to stop crying," I said, feeling my cheeks get hot.  
"You're not so bad," she said, sliding my hands lower to her hips. She pulled me closer and changed our rhythm. We started keeping up with the music. I could feel her heart beating against mine. I was hoping she wouldn't feel mine speed up. After all this time, I still couldn't hide the way I felt about her. As much as I wanted to move on, I'd always a spot for Santana.

"We should dance more often," I say.  
"Yeah?" she asked, pulling back a little to look at me, "I'd like that."  
"Are you hungry?" I asked, taking a step back, hoping to get some control over myself.

"Yeah," she answered, turning her attention back to the food and stove.

"Wait," I say, wrapping an arm around her waist, "you sit down, I'll get it." I pulled out her chair before turning to get a cold compress for her to wrap her hand in. She held her hand in her lap.

"I can't believe I did that. My abuela would be pissed. She taught me to cook," Santana reminisced.  
"I don't want to offend you, but your grandmother sounds like the female version of the godfather," I said, scooping some potatoes onto her plate. She laughed behind me.  
"Have you talked to your Gramma?" Santana asked.  
"Yeah, we talk every Wednesday still," I replied, "actually, she is coming out next Saturday for our game against Kentucky U."  
I heard Santana whip around in her chair.  
"Are you serious?" she said, looking at me as I placed her plate down in front of her.  
"Yeah, is that okay? I guess I should have asked. I just figured she would stay in my room and I'd take the couch," I explained.  
"She's staying over?" Santana asked, she sounded a little concerned.  
"Is that going to be a problem?" I replied, not understanding her panic.  
"I'm going to meet the most important woman in your life? Why didn't you tell me?" she said, not looking away from me. I went back to make my plate.  
"I didn't realize it was a twitter update that Gramma was coming," I said.  
"I'm going to meet your family," she said, not letting it go.  
"She'll love you. What's your dilemma?" I said, starting to find this funny.  
"What if she doesn't?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"Well, I guess I'll have to find a new roommate," I said, sitting down next to her.

Santana's mouth fell open. She looked down at her plate and started pushing her food around. I placed my hand on top of hers.  
"I'm kidding. She'll love you," I repeated, smiling, " and if she doesn't, she's only here for a day."  
She looked a little less stressed.

"Do you want a drink?" I asked, grinning.

"Yes. Yes, I do, please," she answered.

The rest of dinner was filled of conversation about what Santana could talk about with my Gramma. I was a little shocked at first, at how excited she was to meet my grandmother but after I started thinking about it, I grew a little nervous. I have never brought anyone home to meet my Gramma, but then again there was never anyone to meet. The more I thought about this, the more concerned I became. I tried to focus more on Santana and what she was saying in order to keep the dread from my face.

Eventually, the topic changed and we were back to the usual goofy and light conversation that comes so easily to us. I missed the moments we used to have, just us, laughing and carrying on. Kind of like the moments I had been sharing with Lauren. This thought made me choke on my wine.  
"Are you okay? Do you need assistance?" shouted Santana.  
I started laughing at her as she stood up to help me with her one good hand. Once I stopped coughing, I wiped the tears that had sprung to my eyes.

"I was choking, not going deaf. What were you going to do? Yell the drink down?" I was still laughing when San sat back down and explained she would have thought of something.

After another glass of wine each, Santana began to yawn. I told her we would clean up in the morning and we headed off to bed. As we stood outside our rooms, I looked at her.

"Thanks for dinner San, it was delicious," I said.

"Thanks for being here for me," she replied, "you're my best friend."

She moved in to hug me. I returned the hug and was about to turn into my room, when she pulled me back and kissed my lips, softly.

She pulled away, her eyes still closed.

"Wow," I said, still holding her hand, "making big moves before Gramma shows up."

She grinned.  
"It was just part of my thank you. Its all about the manners," she explained.  
"Well, she is a big fan of manners," I confirm.

Santana rolled her eyes, a big smile still on her face as she stepped into her room.  
"Thanks again Jam," she said, shutting her door.  
"Always San," I replied. I was about to step into my room, when I felt my phone buzz.

**Lauren: Hey! Still not feeling good and can't leave bed. But I wanted you to know I was thinking of you. Should I send flowers? ;)  
**

I felt my heart race slightly as I read the message. I laughed to myself knowing she was mocking me from earlier.

**No need. It's noted that you were thinking of me in bed. :D**

I hit send and it dawned on me. I was flirting. I was flirting and it was not just any girl. It was the captain of my team, the girl who was real about her crush on me and not to mention, the girl who I told we would be better as friends. I thought back to this afternoon. This was my fault. I opened the 'flirty door' with flowers and previous flirting. The more I analyzed it, the more I realized that my feelings this afternoon might have been more than just friendly. What am I going to do now? I may have opened the door for Lauren, but after the night I spent with Santana, I was lost. I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep so I headed back downstairs and began the cleanup; of both, the kitchen and my life. **  
**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The week could not have been moving along any slower. I don't know if it was because I was excited that my first university game was coming up on Saturday or that Gramma was stopping by, but time was still.

It was Thursday night and the team was having dinner together. What I didn't know what about the "Thursday night dinner before the home opener" was much like the traditional rookie icebreaker: a lot of liquor. When we voted for a Mexican theme night I should have known there would be tequila. While the food was being served, Sammy, the assistant captain, stood up to say a few words.

"On behalf of the vets, I would just like to officially welcome the rookies to the team!" She began, everyone applauded and cheered.

"I would also like to take this time to congratulate everyone on making it through the pre season training. We all know what a pain in the ass that can be. And in closing, my co-captains and I would like to present the up and coming star prize. This prize goes to the junior player who, throughout preseason, has shown dedication, determination and is looking to be a valuable player. This preseason winner is...Roooooook!" She boomed through the south pub. Everyone stood up and was clapping. I couldn't believe it. Lauren elbowed me in the side and pointed to Sammy who waving me up beside her. I straightened my shirt and headed up. I was feeling confident as I walked up and shook Sam's hand.

"Now!" She continued, "As we all know, Cardinal Lacrosse is a big fan of tradition. Therefore," she paused, looking around for something. I started to get a little nervous. It couldn't be any worse than last time, I think to myself while looking at the entire team. A little bottle began making its way around the table leaving a trail of giggles behind it. I look at Lauren who had a big grin on her face. She winked at me, although I wasn't too sure what that meant. As the soda-sized bottle came around, Sammy bent down to grab it.

"As a cardinal, we all represent the majestic creature that begins its journey in the skies," said Sam, peering out onto the 'open abyss'. She was far too long winded. I needed to know what I was in for.

"Jamie here, like the cardinal, will need her strength for the upcoming season. And like a true cardinal, must dine on the leanest of proteins. We would like to offer you, Jamie, a meal fit for any cardinal creature," and with that she pulled out the bottle.

"This bottle," she held it up, "for those of you who don't know, is filled with the richest tequila. "

This doesn't seem all that bad, I think to myself, just a shot of tequila. That's when I saw it.

"Not only is this the best tequila, it is home to what keeps the cardinals strong! And we want you at your strongest for Saturday!" Sammy explained, looking me with the biggest smirk. She cracked the top and handed it to me. Swimming around the bottom was a worm.

Oh no, I think to myself.

"The worm is the key ingredient to any cardinal diet," said Sam.

"Is it? Is it really?" I ask with a raised eyebrow and small smirk back.

"It is!" She answers, finally breaking her spokesperson persona with a laugh. "Legend also has it, that whenever the recipient of the award has failed to complete the honour, the team not only looses its first game but struggles throughout the entire season."

"Perfect," I mumble, watching the worm seemingly stare back at me. As I was working up the courage to make this happen, I heard the door open to the street and in walked, Santana. She looked around before spotting me at the head of our table with Sam. I saw the smile grow on her face as she smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I smiled and took a deep breath, hearing the low rumbles of the chant starting.

"Cards, cards, cards..." It started getting louder and faster. I raised the bottle to my lips, with more glance at San, I let the contents empty into my mouth. I didn't stop, not wanting to feel the worm. The entire bar was watching now and erupted into cheers as I slammed the empty bottle onto the table and let out a wild cheer. Sam wrapped her arm around my shoulders and announced a good season, holding the completely empty bottle. When she was done, she leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"You chewed that worm up right?" She asked.

My smile instantly faded.

"Cause I've heard it can come back on ya".

"What?" I asked, as she danced away.

After getting a high five and the odd bum slap from most of the team. I went to the bar for a glass of water. I was starting to feel like the worm was crawling up my throat. I downed the glass and felt an arm wrap around my waist.

"It was hard to keep that from you," Lauren said with a laugh.

"I'm sure it was," I said with a grin, instantly forgetting my fears.

"Want a drink?" She asked.

"Uh, sure," I said, obviously beginning to feel the tequila, "just give me a sec."

She nodded and headed off to the dance floor. I headed off to find San.

"Hey!" I hear from behind me.

"Hi," I feel the smile instantly creep to my face.

"I thought I was going to miss it!" She said over the music.

"Oh you knew?" I asked, a little shocked.

"Yeah, Lauren text me," she explained, "she said it was kind of a big deal and thought that you might want me here. Do you?"

"Of course," I said, leaning in for a hug, "means a lot that you came."

"Wouldn't miss it," she said, placing a kiss on my neck. Over her shoulder I saw Lauren and Sam watching. They smiled and Sam gave me a double thumbs up. I laughed.

"Want to dance?" I asked Santana.

"Sure, I just need a stop at the restroom," she answered.

"Okay, see you out there," I said.

I watched her head to the other side of the bar. When I turned, Lauren was there with two drinks.

"Thanks," I said, accepting the bottle.

"I hope that was okay," she said taking a sip of hers.

"Yeah, it's good. How did you know," I asked, leaning my back against the bar.

"You talk in your sleep," she said, her gaze on the dance floor.

"Really?" I replied, looking at her.

"Yeah, a lot actually. Always about the same person," she said, looking at me.

"Sorry, I should have told you," I admitted.

"Love is love. Sometimes you can't help how it turns out," she explains,

"Plus, you're too young for me anyways."

I laughed. "Yeah? Two years too young?"

She laughed.

"Yeah. But should this go sour in a year or two, you know where I live. And play for that matter," she said with a wink.

"Thanks Doc." We clinked bottles and she headed over to the rest of the team.

"Ready?" Asked Santana.

"Always," I answered.

It was finally here, the morning of the big day. I was awoken early by my alarm for a light, early morning practice. The team was stoked for our first game against Kentucky. The energy was electric and everyone could feel it. We did a quick jog, followed by our key plays and ended with a light scrimmage. By the time Coach sent us for showers, it was almost lunch. I was going to be late. I had to meet my Gramma at the main building.

"Hey!"

I stood up from collecting my things to see Lauren.

"Hey! How's it going?" I ask.

"Good," she answered, "I haven't seen you since Thursday. How were you feeling when you got up?"

"Oh," I laugh, "not as bad as last time, thanks. Santana made me drink a gallon of water before bed."

"Hmm...So, can I ask? Since we're definitely in the friend zone, how'd that go?"

"How'd what go?" I ask, giving her a look.

"You know, you and San? You official yet?" Lauren asked, winking.

"What? No. No, no, she just broke up with Brittany. She needs time to find herself, that stuff, you know how it is."

"Look Rookie. I've seen enough girls come and go living with Sam, but I've never seen a girl look at Sammy, the way Santana looks at you," she explained.

"How do you know that? You barely know her. You've text her once," I argue.

"Dude, she came running to the bar Thursday night. When you weren't by her side, her eyes were always looking and finding you."

"Okay, now you just sound like a creep," I said, smirking.

She pushed my shoulder, laughing.

"It wasn't like she was trying to hide it," she stated.

I picked up my bag and swung it over my head onto my shoulder.

"So you're saying she's over Brittany already," I asked, not completely sure.

"I'm saying, you don't get big rewards, if you don't take big risks," she said, matter of fact.

"Easy Spider-Man," I said with a chuckle.

"I'm just saying, obviously you like and care for this girl. Don't miss your chance."

"What if I blow my only chance though?" I ask.

"Isn't she worth the risk?" She asked walking away from me.

I looked at my watch.

"Crap," I mumbled and took off running towards the main building.

Almost an hour later, I returned to my house.

"San? You home?" I called out, kicking off my sneakers and throwing my keys onto the table.

"I think Gramma forgot she was coming today. The guys at the front said-"

As I came around the corner, sitting at the breakfast bar, was Santana...with Gramma.

"Hey Gramma," I said, leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"How'd you find the place?"

"Oh Princess, you know I can be very resourceful. Just hollered out a bit and I met this pretty little thing."

We both looked at San. I don't know if I was blushing at my Gramma's comment or my Gramma's nickname for me.

"I was just heading home from a Cards meeting," she said, taking a sip of her tea she had made herself and Gramma.

"We've just been chatting a little, seeing as how you were late...again," Gramma said, "Santana's been showing me your yearbook from last year. Good to see you're finding some girls your age."

"I know Gram," I said, rolling my eyes and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"I'm going to go grab a shower," I say, looking between the two women.

"You know Santana, when Jamie used to live back in town, she'd be running around town after all the boys. It's a good thing she's hitting for that other team, I'd probably be knee deep in grand-babies," Gramma said, raising her hand to her mouth as if I couldn't hear. I almost spit my water out.

"Gramma!" I said, coughing the fluid out of my lungs, " you must be hungry, why don't we go get lunch?"

"Don't be silly dear, Santana said she was going to make me some fancy sandwich, what did ya'll call it? A poonini?" She asked, searching for the word.

My mouth dropped open; did my Gramma just say what I think she said? Santana was laughing uncontrollably.

"It's a panini, Mrs. Ellis," Santana said helpfully.

"Oh right, I can't keep up with you kids and your slang words these days," said Gramma.

"Let me just run and grab a hair tie and wash up before I start lunch," said Santana, squeezing my shoulder and smiling as she headed upstairs.

"She's a cute one Jamie," Gramma said over her glasses, once she thought Santana was out range.

"Oh Gramma, I've missed you," I said, giving her another hug, "I'm just going to run and jump in the shower before lunch."

I ran up the stairs hoping to catch Santana before she came back down.

"San?" I said, poking my head into her room.

"Hey," she answered, coming out of her bathroom pulling down a fresh t-shirt. I caught just a glimpse of her lean, tanned stomach before the shirt hid it from view.

"I just wanted to say thanks for showing her here for me," I said, focusing on why I was standing there.

"No problem, she's a sweet lady," she said smiling.

"Well, let me apologize now for any inappropriateness that may follow. Gramma likes to speak her mind," I warned.

"I'm sure I'll be able to handle it," she said, standing in front of me now, pulling her hair into a pony.

"Princess eh?" She said with a smirk.

I laughed, feeling my cheeks go red again.

"It was a joke when I was young and it just kind of stuck," I said, awkwardly.

"It's cute," she said with that trademark grin and eyebrow.

"Anyways, you don't have to make lunch, I can grab something," I assured her.

"No, don't worry. We should eat something healthy before tonight anyway."

"Okay."

"So, she thinks I'm cute? Does that mean she likes me?" San asked making her way down the stairs.

"She forgets her hearing range and ours differ," I whispered after her.

After lunch, Gramma and I took a little stroll in the park.

"So, how are you liking it here?" She asked, getting right to the point.

"I can't complain. The school is giving me a huge opportunity to follow my dreams," I reply.

"Well, don't get too caught up that you forget to enjoy it. Have you met many new people?" She continued with her questions.

"Oh yeah, the team is huge and everyone on it is amazing. They treat everyone like family. It's hard to feel lonely," I assure her.

"Yet you are," she said, sitting on a bench near the creek.

"What do you mean? I'm too busy to be lonely. I barely have a second to myself," I say, laughing it off.

"I'm talking about love Jam. I can see it in your eyes, like you're missing something," she went on.

"No Gram, I've made some really good friends. I'm good."

"Is Santana a friend?" She asked.

"Of course, she's my best friend," I answered.

"How did you two meet?"

"Um," I started, "I kind of hit her in the face with a lacrosse ball not long after I started in Lima."

Gramma laughed.

"Well, that's quite the way to begin a love story," she said.

"Who said anything about a love story?" I said questioningly.

"Oh please, I may be old but I can still see the way you look at her," she insisted, "how could you not look at her? Whew wee!"

"Gramma!" I said, not being able to hold back my laugh.

We continued our walk through the park before heading back and both having a nap in front of the television.

I was sitting in our locker room waiting for our Coach to come in. It was the quietest I had ever heard the team. It was making me more nervous, even Sammy was in the zone. Coach had pulled me aside during the scrimmage this morning and told me I was in the starting line up. My legs started shaking; I turned up the music in my headphones. I was in the beat when I felt someone nudge me. I looked up to find Sammy and Lauren.

"Hey guys," I said, pulling my ear buds out.

"Hey Rook! You nervous?" Asked Sammy.

"Um...little bit," I admitted, "I feel like there's something to prove tonight."

They both smiled and looked at each other. Sam grabbed my shoulder.

"There is," she said, grinning and walking away.

My smile faded and I tried to say something but had nothing.

"She's kidding," Lauren whispered, taking a seat next to me, "holy, would you relax. It's just a game."

"Yeah, easy for you to say," I reply, "what if they don't like me? What if the game they saw I was just lucky?"

"You need to relax. We've seen you in practice. You've got this," she said, reminding me.

"Look, listen to this and zone everything else out. It's helps me," she said, giving me her iPod.

"Thanks," I say, turning her playlist up. The first thing I hear are crashing waves. I sit back and try to place the song. That's all that ever comes though, just more waves. I peak open an eye to see if this was a joke but Lauren is back in her spot, eyes closed, tapping a foot to my iPod. I settle back and let myself go; before I know it, I'm almost asleep. I feel amazing and just in time for Coach to come in and pump us back up. After a quick pep talk, we're running out onto the field as the announcer is screaming "Cardinals". We toss the ball around for a few seconds while the refs get ready. I spot Gramma; she gives me a quick wave with her new foam finger. I laugh and return her wave with a raise of my stick. As I'm heading back to our bench, I catch San out of the corner of my eye. She gives me a quick wink and a cheer and turns back to the audience.

The ref blows his whistle signaling the beginning of the game. My adrenaline starts flowing. We line up for the face off. Sammy takes it, she wins it's throwing the ball back to Lauren, who takes off running. An opposing player quickly stops her. Lauren breaks and pivots whipping the ball back to Sammy. Sammy snatches it up and keeps running; I'm right with her. She runs wide and throws me the ball, as fast as it is in my pocket, the ball is flying back to Sammy who flings it past their goalie. I ran at Sammy and jumped on her back, screaming as the rest of the team catches up to us, doing the same.

The crowd is loving the game. I caught Gramma screaming and dancing with the students who crowded beside her. The cheerleaders were in the middle of one of their big routines, when the play had moved in front of them. I bolting up the sideline with the ball, I had an attacker coming up my side. Eventually, she catches up to me, swings her stick trying to snag the ball. I wait for her to try again and use my shoulder to knock her off balance. She tumbles to the ground managing to take me with her. When I stop rolling, I realize I have someone trapping my legs. I sit up finding Santana sprawled on top of me.

She rolls to the side and finds my face.

"So much for not tripping tonight," she says, smiling at me.

"Sorry, I was aiming for someone else," I tease, standing and reaching a hand out to help her up.

"Better not have been," she replies with a wink.

I watch her as she skips back to her position.

"Really?" I call after her.

Sammy grabs my shoulder, pulling me back to the game.

The teams were evenly matched, with four and half minutes left in the fourth quarter when it started raining. The score was tied at 4-4. Out of nowhere, the opposing team darted from their end carrying the ball. We all started after her. She was fast but Lauren was right behind her. In a blink of an eye, Lauren was sliding across the field as she tackled the girl down. Instantly, a penalty was called, along with a penalty shot. Two thirty remains in the game as Lauren starts her penalty, taking a seat on the sideline and wiping the grass from her. The opposing player lines up for her shot. Our goalie, strong and steady, looks right at her. The player starts in, picking up speed. She deekes to the right, pulls back to the left and snaps a shot off her backhand. Diving, our goalie, reaches for the ball and at the last second hits it out of play. What a save! The crowd is going crazy! We race down the field to celebrate with our tender.

Moments later, the game is back in motion. The opposing team in possession, they're handling the ball easily, as we try to kill the penalty. They throw it one too many times back and forth and I jump between, intercepting the ball. I take off running with Sammy by my side. Twenty two seconds remain, Sammy pulls ahead of me and I toss her the ball. A large girl steps in front of her and Sam finds Lauren back in from the penalty. Lauren's running hot up the side, she cuts to the middle, a big shot. Their goalie saves it letting out a huge rebound. I find it, raise my stick, let the ball go...top corner, over the goalies right shoulder!

My team surrounds me, cheering and screaming! We line up for one more face off, seven seconds left. The ref places the ball and Sammy wins it. She flips it back to Lauren who handles it. The buzzer blows and Lauren throw me the ball.

"Game winner! You're going to want to keep that," she says, giving me a high five.

"Told you, you're kind of a big deal."

"Thanks," I said.

Sammy jumps on me.

"So, we kind of make a good duo! We should do this more often," she yells, slapping my helmet.

"Sounds good to me!"

As we shake hands with the other team, I realize the rain has picked up. Before I head into the change room, I find my Gramma.

"Jamie! What a game! That was terrific!" She exclaimed.

"Thanks Gramma, I'm glad you came," I said, beyond happy.

I brought her down to the field and found our water boy; he had offered to drive my Gramma home in the team golf cart. She hopped in, however not before commenting on the cuteness of the young volunteer. I ran inside to meet the team. Coach gave us a run down of the game and congratulated us on our first win before heading to her office. We celebrated for a bit before changing, showering and heading home. As I stepped out of the locker room into the rain, I saw a soggy, shadowy figure. As I got closer, I recognized those legs.

"Hey miss, do you know it's raining outside?" I asked, already feeling the rain through my clothes.

"I thought I'd walk you home," answered my favorite cheerleader. I saw her smiling against the bright stadium lights.

"Are you crazy? You're getting soaked! Here take this," I said offering her my team warm up jacket, not that it would help. She wrapped it around her shoulders.

"You're right," she said, wiping at the rain on her cheeks, "I am crazy."

"I know," I agree, grabbing her hand, "let's go home and get out of the rain."

I started walking but felt her hand pull me back. I stopped and looked back at her.

"I'm not crazy for standing in the rain," she shouted over the drops.

"I disagree," I called back.

"I'm crazy for not seeing the most amazing thing right in front of me this whole time," she said, the rain falling onto her soft skin. She moved closer to me, never letting go of my hand.

"I'm crazy for not admitting my feelings when I realized them," she continued, wiping a raindrop from my face.

"And I'm crazy for not waiting in the rain a million times before this," she said, her dark brown eyes finding mine.

"Why would you wait in the rain?" I ask, softly.

"To do this," she whispered, and with that she leaned in covering my lips with hers. Her arms reaching around me and pulled me closer. I reach up and touch her cheek, as her tongue slides across my bottom lip. I hold onto her afraid that this is a dream and she won't be there when I open my eyes. I can feel her hands on my back and hear the rain bouncing off the ground around us. She pulls back, not letting go of me.

"I've wanted to do that for so long," she says.

"Me too," I admit.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

I felt her cold hand on my hip as she slipped it under my shirt to pull me closer. I broke our kiss and reached for her hand.

"Your freezing," I whispered against her lips.

"No, I'm fine," Santana said, smiling and kissing me again. The stadium lights had shut off and we were left in the dark.

I pulled back again, smiling and breathless.

"You're shivering," I said, brushing a wet strand of hair off her face, "let's get out of the rain."

We started running towards the houses. The rain was still coming down hard; we were soaked by the time we reached the steps to our door. The lights were off as we stepped inside. It was quiet. I lifted my duffel from my shoulder and placed it next to the stairs. When I turned back, San was right behind me. Our lips met again, this time a little harder as she moved me against the door. Her hands threaded around my waist and under my shirt. Her tongue snaked in and brushed my lips on the way out. My fingers tangled through her hair. As she started to lift my shirt over my head, the lights suddenly came on and she pushed away from me as my bedroom door opened.

"Jamie?" my Gramma called out. She appeared at the top of the stairs, as I was straightening my shirt.

"Hey Gramma," I said, trying to hide my shortness of breath.

"I thought I heard someone knocking on the door," she replied, sleepily.

"Oh, sorry. It was just me coming in with my big duffel bag," I said, chancing a look at Santana who was trying to tame her messy hair into a hair tie.

"Sorry Gram, I didn't mean to wake you," I said, with a little grin.

"That's okay Jamjam, I figured you would need to come into grab things anyhow," she said, heading back to my bedroom.

"Yeah, I'll be right up," I called after her.

I waited to hear the click of the door and not a moment later I felt a slap on my arm.

"Oh my god! I forgot she was up there," Santana hissed.

"Ow," I said, laughing and rubbing my arm, "she knows I like girls. I think we would have been okay." She gave a small laugh. I started to move past her and up the stairs when she grabbed my arm. I turned and she placed a small kiss on my cheek.

"Thanks for letting me walk you home," she whispered as she pulled away.

"Anytime," I whispered back, not bothering to try to hide the huge smile.

Later that night, as I lay on the couch, the thought of Santana and I on the field after the game kept replaying in my head. I couldn't remember the last time I was this happy. We had finally landed on the same page. It was like a scene out of a movie, the rain, the kiss; it was perfect. I wasn't sure when I finally fell asleep, my thoughts merged into my dreams and I slept all night.

The next morning, Gramma woke me up with breakfast.

"Gramma, you didn't have to cook. I would have made breakfast," I said, walking into the kitchen and rubbing sleep out of my eyes. My Gramma laughed, "please, I'm sure college has made you smarter but I doubt it's made you a better chef!"

I stopped and looked at her. Then I smile and nodded, "yeah, you're right. Santana doesn't let me into the kitchen. She's afraid I'll end up poisoning myself."

"I like that one," Gramma said, dishing out some scrambled eggs, "she's very sweet."

"Yeah, she's pretty great," I agreed.

"She cares about you a great deal," Gramma went on.

"Yeah, we're pretty close friends, I agreed.

"I think it's more than that sweetheart. I've heard her talk about you," Gram said.

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, while I ate my eggs.

"What?" she asked, "what can I say? You're like your Grampa when it comes to love, a little slow."

I started laughing.

"I miss breakfast with you guys," I said between bites.

"Well, you are closer now. You could stop by whenever you want," she reminded me.

"I know," I said.

"Speaking of home, we should probably get a move on. My ride should be here soon," said Gram.

I got ready and ran back downstairs to meet Gram. She was saying goodbye to Santana and writing down recipes for her to try. I picked up Gramma's bag and opened the door for her.

"Be back in a sec," I smiled at San.

We chatted about the game from the night before until we reached the main building. We said our goodbyes and my uncle pulled up. I helped her lift her bags into the car, gave my uncle a quick nod and waved goodbye.

The walk back to the house was nice. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun was out, the clouds were gone and the birds were singing.

_"Wow_" I thought to myself. If this were a movie, I'd be whistling and skipping with a basket. I smiled to myself as the house came into view. As I got closer, I could see Santana sitting on the top step, head back and soaking up the sun. When she heard my steps approaching she leaned forward on her knees.

"Morning," she grinned.

"Morning," I smiled back, coming to a stop at the bottom of the steps.

"You're in a good mood," I noticed. Her smile faded.

"Aren't you?" she asked, seriously.

"I'm pretty happy," I admitted.

"Good, I thought maybe you were regretting last night," she mumbled.

"Why would you think that? Last night was amazing," I said.

Her smile returned.

"I'm in a great mood. I started on the first string last night. I scored the winning goal of the home opener! And Gramma was here to see it!" I explained.

"Yeah, it was pretty awesome. But...your night didn't end at the game," she urged.

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Isn't there something else that helped make your night?" she pressed on.

"Um, oh! How could I forget? I said, Santana's smile returned.

"I got the game ball!" I added. As fast as her smile came, it was gone again.

"Yeah," she said, "that's awesome."

She got up to head into the house.

"Then there was that amazing kiss," I called up to her making her stop.

"But that didn't make my night. I think it made my week at least," I said, taking the steps two at time to reach her. She turned and crossed her arms.

"You're such a pain in the ass sometimes," she stated.

"Wanted to make sure that's what you were referring to," I grinned.

"I thought you were freaking out and trying to forget it," Santana suggested.

"Why would I do that? Should I be?" I asked her.

"I hope not," she said.

"Good," I said, leaning back against the railing. She leaned against the other side.

"So, want to walk to the park and throw the ball around?" I asked.

"Like a date?" she asked back, her smile growing. I couldn't help but smile back.

"I guess it could be a date," I said.

Santana laughed and started walking away.

"Gramma was right. You are slow when it comes to love," she called over her shoulder.

"What?" I shrugged and following her inside.

I grabbed my two lacrosse sticks and for the last hour, Santana has been trying learn how to use it. She was determined to get it. I stood behind her and placed my hand over hers to show her the different ways to throw it.

"You're enjoying this way too much," she laughed.

"Me?" I exclaimed, "you're the one who is the 'hands on' learner." I stood back to watch her throw the ball. Santana took one more look at me before she launched the ball. It was a hard throw; unfortunately, it curved to the right and landed in the pond. She looked back at me, with a big grin. I laughed.  
"Are you going to go get that for me?" Santana laughed and dramatically batted her eyelashes.

"While this is cute," I started, pointing at her leaning pose on the lacrosse stick, "You throw it, you get it sunshine. It's totally clean. Only a little sludgy by the edge,"  
"Oh really?" Santana said, still giggling.  
"Really," I repeated. She looked back down at the floating ball in the pond, debating if she should jump in or not. Finally, she kicked off her sneakers and headed down to the pond. She was just about to step into the chilly and semi-gross pond.

"Hey!" I called to her. She turned around and saw me holding another ball in the air.  
"You sneaky bugger!" she hollered and came chasing after me. I tried to run away but I was laughing. She sprinted up the hill and caught me in seconds.

"You were going to let me swim in the that stinky water?" she asked, laughing as well.  
"Is it stinky? I've never been that close," I answered, still grinning. Her mouth dropped.

"You liar!" said Santana, gently shoving my shoulder. She bent down and put her shoes back on.

"You're lucky you're cute," she said looking up. I grinned my cheesiest smile and jogged back to grab our sticks.

After a short game of catch, she decided it was time for a break. We sat down at one of the picnic tables near by. Before either of us could speak, my phone buzzed.

"Sugar just text me and said they're putting on a musical. It starts this Saturday," I read.

"Oh really? Which play are they doing this year?" Santana asked, grabbing the two water bottles out of my backpack.

"Um, Grease," I answered, as my phone buzzed once more.

"That's one of my favorite musicals. It's right up there with West Side," she said.

"Really?" I asked, "do you want to go see it with me? It could be our first official date?"

"You want to go back to Lima?" she asked, apprehensively.

"Sure. I haven't seen Sug or Marley since I left. Plus, I miss Tony's cooking. Not that you're cooking isn't capital 'P' phenomenal," I quickly added. She smiled and played with her water bottle.

"Unless, you don't want to? I'm sure I can find some kind of musical fun for our real first date," I suggested.

"I do miss home and glee club. I haven't sung much since I got here," she said.

"So what's with the hesitation?" I asked, seeing her struggle with some internal dilemma.

"What if I see Brit?" she mumbled.

"I don't know. What if you do? I know it hasn't been that long but it's been crazy. She can't expect you to wait around forever," I offered.

"I know. You're right. It's not like I can avoid Lima forever," she replied.

I text Sug back to pick me up two tickets. Although, once I had time to digest everything, I started to doubt this decision as well. Maybe it was a good idea to avoid Lima. The last thing I needed was another fun meet and greet with Brittany.

The next week went by like normal. There was class and practice, along with homework and papers. Santana missed a couple classes because of competitions and on those days, I grabbed her notes and we stayed up late going over the lectures. Not much had changed since the kiss we shared after the game. There was a little more cuddling on the couch but nothing official. We both had busy schedules, which was why I wanted this weekend to be perfect.

We were both packed and ready to go Friday morning. Neither of us had class on Friday so we decided to go for a run together. We headed out along the path at an even pace. It was weirdly warm for the time of year. The sun was shining and the trail looked amazing since the leaves had started to change colors. We had been running for about an hour, when I slowed down as we passed a water fountain. Santana leaned down first and took a long sip.

"Hey, save some for the fish?" I teased, while getting my breath back. She smiled and moved to the side, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. I stepped up to take a gulp and before I could get a mouth full, my face was pushed into the stream of water.

I stood up, coughing and wiping my face with my t-shirt. I turned to find Santana quite pleased with herself and laughing hysterically.

"Really? It was that funny huh?" I asked, rhetorically.

She nodded.

"Yeah? We'll see how funny it is when I throw you in the pond," I threatened, laughingly.

"You wouldn't," she stated.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" I asked back, as we circled the water fountain.

"You'd have to catch me first," she taunted.

"It's on," I said, taking off and chasing after her.

Santana took off not taking the chance to look back. She slowed to pass a couple walking but only for a second. I kept running, not far behind. She zigged into the forest on the other side of the pond. I could hear her laughing and screaming as she dodged trees. It made me laugh; slowing me down and making me more breathless. I lost her for a second before I heard another shriek. I turned in the direction of the noise and saw her tangled in the brush. She was just about to free herself from the tangle when I wrapped my arms around her. We both fell into the leaves at the bottom of the large maple tree. We tried to catch our breath but we couldn't stop laughing. Santana leaned up on an elbow and caught my gaze; our laughter was silenced by the quiet around us. I reached my hand up to pull a leaf caught in her hair. As I did, she slid her hand into mine. She laced her fingers and brought them to her lips. Our breathing was the only noise around us. I moved my hand to her neck, urging her closer. She draped her arm across me. I was melting in her brown eyes. She came half way and I lifted my head to close the distance between us. Our lips meeting perfectly, I curved my arm around her bringing our bodies together. I laid back down as her hand caressed my face. Everything about the moment was much more than just a kiss. The deep feelings we had for one another had finally been brought into the open. Each touch was deliberate but sensual, everything said without saying it. I had waited for this moment for so long, I didn't want it to end. Her fingers tangled through my hair, she never took her lips from mine for longer than a breath. Her lips fit perfectly against mine, my hands moving over her. I pulled away and kissed her cheek and her down her neck, before resting my head against her shoulder.

"We should run together more often," I whispered between breaths.

"It is a lot more interesting with you," she smiled. I checked my iPod for the time.

"We should go. Practice starts soon," I said, my hand still drawing circles on her back.

"This feels so right," she murmured.

I looked up, once again, into her eyes and met her lips in one last kiss.

"I know," I agreed.

Santana stood up and reached out a hand to help me up and continued holding my hand until we reached the house.  
We both grabbed our duffels and got ready to head out to our respective practices.  
"Can I walk you to practice?" I asked, holding the door open for her. She stepped out into the afternoon sun.  
"I guess that would be better than you creeping behind me," she teased back. I smiled and closed the door. Santana grabbed my hand again, squeezing it slightly as we walked. We came to the field that Santana and the cheerleaders practiced on first.  
"Well, here we are," she stated, looking over the grass.  
"Yup, here it is," I repeated.  
"I'll see you after?" Santana asked.  
"I can't wait," I told her. She leaned over and landed a kiss before skipping off to meet the girls.  
With the way I was feeling, I practically floated to practice. When I got there Lauren waved me over.  
"Hey!" she said.  
"Hi"  
"Are you okay?" she asked.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"  
"Because you're grinning like you just stole the last cookie from the jar," teased Lauren, "would this have anything to do with a certain cheerleader?"  
"Um, yeah. I guess so. Things are going pretty well," I told her, not hiding the smile.

"That's good. Do you guys have plans this weekend?" asked Lauren.  
"Actually we're heading back to Lima to see some friends," I explained.  
"Oh, really?" she said, strangely.  
"Yeah, why are you saying it like that?" I asked, not liking the tone in her voice.

"Well, you guys just started, doing whatever it is your doing. You're saying its not even official yet," she replied.  
"I'm still not following," I said.  
"Do you think it will be a good idea if she runs into her ex so soon?" asked Lauren.  
"Well, not at first. I had my doubts but then we had this moment and it seems like we're getting each other now," as I said this, I wasn't sure if I was even convincing myself, "I'm over thinking this. It's going to be fine."

Lauren laughed, "yeah, you're probably right. Sorry I brought it up."  
_So am I_, I thought to myself.

We ran through practice and the whole time all I could think about was different scenarios for this weekend and they weren't ending in very promising ways. _Okay, stop this, its crazy to think about things you don't know. There are too many variables, anything could happen and it could be the best weekend—_

I didn't have time to finish my thought as I collided with Sammy. Her stick crosschecked me square in the helmet. I should have learned my lesson about not focusing during practice from Roberta. But here I was again, lying flat on my back. I lay still while I tried to catch my breath. I looked over and saw Sammy sitting up next to me.  
"Hot damn Rookie! Is she hot?" she asked.  
"What are you talking about?" I asked, having no idea what she meant.

"The girl you were day dreaming about, is she hot? I mean she would have to be if you didn't see my bright yellow jersey coming at you. It's like a bus. You're lucky it wasn't a bus," she carried on.  
"Wait, you knew you coming straight for me and you didn't ease off?" I asked.  
"Just teaching ya a lesson Rook, keep your mind on the field," said Sammy.  
"Gee, thanks Sam," I said sarcastically. I got up and finished out practice, thinking a little more clearly.  
Afterwards, Lauren, Sammy and I were walking back to the houses. When we reached my steps, Lauren turned to me.  
"Good luck this weekend," she said with a wink.  
"Thanks," I said, rolling my eyes and smiling.  
"Call me if you need anything," she added.  
"It's going to be amazing. Nothing will happen, Santana isn't like that," I told her.  
"It's not Santana you need to worry about," she called as she headed to her house. I shook my head and ran up the stairs. _This weekend will be great. I'll get to see friends and maybe make it official with San. _I took a deep and moved inside.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"You've been pretty quiet since we left," noticed Santana, as she sat in the passenger seat of my car.

"Everything okay? Something happen at practice?"

"No, it was good. Just thinking about being back in Lima, I guess," I answered, "are you sure it's okay that I crash at your parents? I don't want to impose. I can stay with Tony or Marley or Sugar or-"

Santana cut me off, "your nervous about meeting my parents," she said, her smirk growing wider.

I looked at her than back to the dark road, then back to her.

"No, I'm just, you know, I mean," I stutter. Busted, I think to myself. After talking to Lauren, all the situations started running through my head and then it dawned on me. _I've only casually passed them at games but I've never introduced myself, especially as Santana's girlfriend. Wait. Is that what I am? Santana's girlfriend? _

"Hey! Jamie! Should I, maybe drive, because you're kinda stuck in your head right now," said Santana, my mind focusing back on the road.

"I'm good," I reassure her.

"Look, I'd rather not tell my parents I jumped into another relationship anyways. So you just have to meet them as the 'oh-so cool, calm and collected Jamie, pro star lacrosse player and housemate. Better?" She asked.

_Better? Did she just confirm that I'm the rebound?_

"Yeah, better. Thanks," I smile.

The rest of the drive was secretly unbearable. The music got louder and louder and the conversation less and less as the drive went on. My thoughts would not sleep; they kept turning and turning, over and over in my head. By the time we pulled up to the Lopez house it was 11:50pm. Judging by the dark state of the house, I figured I was safe on the parent front until tomorrow.

"Since they're in bed, want to head over to the Lima Bean and see if anyone is up still?" suggested Santana, "I think I just got my second wind."

"Yeah, sure," I agreed, knowing Sug and Marley had mentioned they'd be there earlier.

We started the short walk to the coffee house and about half way there Santana slid her hand into mine.

"I didn't mean that what we have is anything less than amazing when I said I didn't want to tell my parents," she said, softly.

I nodded and continued walking, when she stopped and pulled me back to her. Her cool hands on either side of my face, her warm lips against mine, it silenced all my thoughts and they disappeared. She pulled back and looked into my eyes.

"I know that's what you were thinking. I can tell with my psychic Mexican third eye," she said.

I laughed and leaned in for another kiss, "get out of my head," I said against her lips.

Soon enough, we were up the steps of the Lima Bean and a million cheerleaders engulfed Santana. I stepped back while she greeted everyone and looked for Marley or Sug. Eventually, I saw them further in the back and made my way over.

"Can I get you guys anything else?" I asked, interrupting what looked to be a serious conversation.

"No, we're fi-" Marley started before looking up and seeing who it was.

"Oh my! You're home!" She squealed and wrapped her arms around me.

"I missed you guys," I said, as I picked her up and swung her around. Sugar stood up for a hug too.

"You're just in time," she said, "Marley was just telling me that Ryder kissed her."

"Ryder?" I said, confused, "I thought his name was Jacob?"

Marley blushed and pulled me down into a seat.

"First, not so loud," Marley hushed, blushing, "second, Jacob is my boyfriend. Ryder is his friend."

"Uh oh," I said, making a face and grinning at her, "I leave and you become a player? What else have I missed?"

We hung out at the coffee shop until 2:00am. Santana came to find me and asked if I was ready. I said goodbye to Marley and Sug, who both gave me side-glances as I walked away. I told them I'd see them tomorrow and San and I headed back to her place. On our way home, we passed a house party that was still going strong. The house was lit up and there were kids everywhere. All I could see were jocks and their fan club of girls. We stopped to say hi to some of the guys we used to run into on the field but as we turned to keep going, Santana ran into a blonde guy. I recognized him from the glee club but he never came to any of my parties. Their conversation looked awkward and I decided to walk up to see what was going on.

"That's not your call," I heard the blonde say, as I walked up.

"Hi," I said to Santana, and then making eye contact with the blonde boy, "I'm Jamie. I don't think we've met."

He extended his hand and we shook.

"Sam," he said.

I almost missed his name because I was so focused on his massive lips. I mean I have bigger lips, but his are huge.

"Let's go," said Santana, as she grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

"It was nice meeting you," I said over my shoulder.

"I'm sure I'll see you around," he called after us.

I turned to look at Santana. She looked rattled.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She didn't answer. She had a look of disgust on her face.

I stopped walking. It took her a second to realize I wasn't beside her.

"What's up with you?" I asked, when she finally turned to see what I was doing.

She smiled and uncrossed her arms, "nothing," she said, rubbing the goose bumps off her arm.

"I'm just cold and want to get home," she said.

I took off my sweater and wrapped it around her shoulders. I searched her eyes as I rubbed her arms to warm her up.

"Who is that guy?" I asked her.

She rested her head against my shoulder and reached for the back pockets of my jeans.

"He's an ex," she said.

"Oh. Was he giving you a hard time back there?" I questioned, beginning to get my back up.

"No."

Sensing she didn't want to talk about it, I slid my hand into hers and continued our walk back. After a few steps, it was Santana who stopped walking. I stopped and looked at her.

"He's dating Brit," she admitted.

Not even twelve hours here and already I knew this trip home was going to be rough.

After a restless night, I awoke to the sun shining bright outside. I got up and stretched my back from the couch.

"Maybe today won't be as bad as I think," I tell myself.

I headed out the to the hall to find the rest of the house. It was pretty quiet; I checked the clock in the kitchen, 7:22am.

"Must still be sleeping," I whisper. I headed back down to the family room; feeling awkward, I decided to head out for a run. After a quick trip to the bathroom to change, I carefully opened the front door and stepped out into the sunshine. I found my old running route that had incorporated a detour to Santana's street most days. I saw a couple girls from my old McKinley lacrosse team and waved a hello as I darted by. I was coming up on the half way point and slowed down to get a drink from the water fountain in the park. Wiping my mouth on my sleeve, I stepped into the shade of huge tree to stretch it out for a bit. After a moment, I had almost caught my breath and finished stretching, as I heard people coming up behind the tree. The trunk was big enough to hide them from view, so I continued pulling on my hamstring. I could barely make out what they were saying but could tell it was two girls.

"It's not the same," I heard one repeat a little louder.

"I've miss you," said the other.

I smiled to myself and judging by the quietness behind me, I figured I wouldn't want to interrupt a moment between them. Curious, however, to see who else was playing on my team in Lima, I started my run heading back in their direction.

Taking a couple strides and a subtle look, I stopped dead in my tracks. Pushed up against the tree, embraced in what looked like a passionate kiss was Brittany and Santana. I tried to move off the running path and out of traffic's way but my feet were glued to the spot. I finally began to turn to run in the opposite direction and BAM!

The bike bell was the last thing I heard.

"Jamie? I heard softly.

"Jam?" I heard again.

Jamie?" It was louder this time; I awoke with a start. My shirt was stuck to me and I felt out of breath.

"Are you okay?" asked Santana, sitting down next to me on the couch.

I looked around trying to ease my disoriented state.

"Um, yeah. Just a bad dream, I guess," I mumbled, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. Santana had an arm on the other side of my legs and was leaning over me, her other hand finding mine.

"Wow, you're shaking," she noticed, "What was it about?"

"Um," I started, "I can't remember really, felt like I got hit by a train though," I half lied. I sat up and pulled my shirt over my head.

"I'm just going to run to the bathroom," I said, excusing myself. I immediately splashed water on my face, trying to calm down.

"Just a dream, just a dream," I whispered. I took a deep breath and found the clock, 3:44am.

Taking another deep breath, I realized I didn't have a shirt on. I walked back to the couch and reached in my bag for another t-shirt.

"You sure you're okay? I haven't seen anyone that freaked out since Blaine thought they were discontinuing hair gel," said Santana.

"Yeah," I lied.

I sat back on the couch with her. Santana had her feet up on the table and had moved under the blanket and turned the TV on.

"You know what this reminds me of?" She asked quietly, turning her attention from the television.

"What?" I answer, also turning my attention off the TV.

"The first night I spent at your place," she said, wrapping her arm around mine and leaning her head on my shoulder.

We sat there quiet for a moment.

"That was the day we met," I said.

Santana laughed a little, "is it weird that that was one of the best days I've had?"

"I gave you a wicked black eye. And a concussion," I argue.

"Yeah, but we might not have met if not for your shitty shot," she said, looking at me and raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, we woulda met!" I said laughingly and tossed a pillow at her. She turned in her seat, her hair ruffled and pillow in hand. She leaned up on her knees and lifted the pillow above her head. "You wouldn't," I teased.

"Wouldn't -," I cut her off with a tackle and we both fell onto the opposite side of the couch, laughing. I was leaning on top of her. She pulled her arms back down and rested them around my neck. She stopped laughing and started to pull me closer. I leaned closer as our lips met. Moving onto my elbow, I slid my arm underneath her and my free hand traveled over her stomach and under her shirt. The kiss deepened, her hands all over me. Her skin was soft under my fingers as they moved to her waist, my mouth moved to her neck.

"Wait," she gasped, "wait."

I stopped and pushed back to find her eyes. They had darkened and were staring back into mine. I touched her cheek gently, "you okay?"

"I think we should move up to my room," whispered San, holding my hand to the side of her face.

"You sure?" I whispered back.

"Very," she said, not skipping a beat. We got up and crept upstairs, careful to not wake anyone. Before the door even opened Santana had lifted her shirt off and was pushing me through. We tripped once causing us both to laugh; San stopped to close the door and with a quick flick, locked it.

Around 9:30am, I was awaken by sounds and movement from downstairs. I rolled to my side and saw Santana still sleeping, wrapped in a sheet. I sat up trying to find my clothes. Finally, dressed and hair fixed, I borrowed a pair a sneakers from San's closet. There was no way Mr. or Mrs. Lopez would catch me walking out of their daughter's in a 'morning after' scene. I had witnessed Santana sneaking out before, I feel like I could handle it. I opened Santana's window and slid out onto the roof below.

"Whew, so far, so good," I said to myself. Next, was a small drop from the roof over the patio to the ground. I must look crazy. I was about to let go when I heard Santana.

"What are you doing? You're going to kill yourself!" She said, in a high pitch whisper. It made me laugh, which made her laugh.

"I'll be in in a sec," I smiled and let go. The drop was much easier onto grass. I hopped the fence from the back yard and came running around the side of the house. To my surprise, Mrs. Lopez was already outside, tending to the garden. I tried to be a little louder so I didn't scare her.

"Morning Mrs. Lopez," I said, trying to put on my best morning face.

"Jamie! Hi, how are you?" She said, standing from her squat position.

"I'm good thanks, garden looks good," I answered.

"Yeah, just thought I'd get out for a quick final harvest before the snow comes," she said looking over her plants.

"You're up early, aren't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, I woke up early. Thought I'd get a run down the old path before breakfast," I felt bad lying, but it was better than the ladder.

"That's good to hear," she said, getting back to her plants, "we'd be lucky if we saw Santana awake before breakfast," she mumbled.

I smiled and walked in the door. Santana was coming down the stairs in fresh pajamas.

"How was your run?" She asked with a grin.

"Fabulous," I said, smirking back, "I heard we wouldn't have this pleasure until after lunch!"

Santana rolled her eyes, "she always says that, even though I was always the one who made breakfast Sundays."  
"Breakfast huh?" I asked.

"Mhmm, world famous pancakes," she answered, coming to a stop on the bottom step. I moved closer to her and out of sight of the front door.

"I could probably whip you some up, you know, if you wanted," she said, leaning her arms on my shoulders. I leaned up on my toes for a kiss.  
"Sounds good to me," I said, against her lips. She smiled back and jumped off the last stair.

"I'm just going to jump in the shower," I said, taking the first step. Santana turned and slapped my bum.

"Hey now!" I said, enjoying the surprise.  
"Don't forget to leave my shoes," San said with a grin.

I came back downstairs to the kitchen where San and her parents were sitting at the table. I took a deep breath and took a step in.  
"Morning," I said, looking at her father, who I had yet to see this morning.  
"Good morning," he said, standing and pulling a chair out for me at the table, "how was your run this morning? I didn't even hear you leave."  
"Oh, it was pretty early. I didn't want to wake anyone, but it was pretty good. Thank you," I answered.

"Well, breakfast is ready," added Santana, who had returned to the stove to flip the pancakes.  
We all ate breakfast together and then her parents excused themselves to head out for the day. Santana got up to clean and I stood behind her placing my hands on her hips.  
"I'll clean up," I said, kissing her neck and moving around her to take the dishes.  
"You don't have to do that," she said.  
"You cooked. It's what we do," I replied.  
"Okay, well, I'll go get ready. Is there anything you wanted to do today?" asked Santana.  
"I wouldn't mind stopping by the school. I'd like to see if Coach Beiste is there," I said.  
"Perfect," said Santana, "I was hoping I could drop in on the cheer practice today, see what bitches they tried to replace me with."

I laughed a little, "replace you? Never."  
She agreed and headed upstairs.

"Feels weird being back here," I said, as we walked down the hall of McKinley High. Nothing had changed. It was super quiet since it was Saturday. Only Coach Sylvester held practice on weekends. But Coach Beiste was known to come in to work on plays and keep an eye on her so she didn't kill anyone.

"Yeah, it does," agreed Santana. As we were passing the gym, a loud bang sent Santana crashing into me. "What the hell was that?" I said, steadying her.

I moved to the gymnasium door, looking through the window, I could see Coach Sylvester standing over a cheerleader yelling something while confetti canons finished sputtering confetti everywhere.

"Wow, she's crazy," I said, stepping away so Santana could peak in.

"I know. Remember when she wanted to shoot Brit out of one of those? I'm going to go make sure that's not happening again," she said, looking concerned.

I laughed and carried on to Beiste's office. When I got there, I knocked and poked my head in the door.

"Hey Coach," I said, my excitement growing seeing her at her desk.

"Jamie! How the heck are ya?" shouted Coach, getting up to hug me.

"I'm pretty good, can't complain. Just back for a visit," I explained.

We sat down and caught up. Coach told me about the team this year and I told her about school. Seeing Coach Beiste was what I assumed visiting parents was like. She told me how proud she was of my grades and game. It was just what I needed to regain my confidence. I told her I'd keep in touch through email and headed off to find Santana.

Back in the gym, there were only a few Cheerios left cleaning up the confetti.

"Hey, did you guys see where Santana went?" I asked them. They both looked up and pointed to the side door. I smiled and headed that way, leaving them to their mess. I stepped outside into the sunshine and looked around. I walked out a little further on to the field. Some of the girls from the lacrosse team were hanging out and throwing the ball around. I walked over their way. I saw Sug and Marley in the middle of the group.  
"Hey!" they shouted, "get your stick! Let's do this!"  
I started laughing and Marley threw me her extra stick, followed by the ball. I grabbed it and ran up the field, throwing it to a new girl. After a couple throws back and forth, I saw them, Santana and Brit. They were sitting in the stands where San and I talked the night before I left. I kept looking for a sign to tell me what they were talking about but I was too far away. The ball smoking me in the stomach brought me back to the game.  
"Oh, sorry dude," said Marley, running over to me. I took a knee, catching my breath.  
"It's all good. Should've been watching," I said, taking another look at the stands.  
"Yeah, they've been out here for a bit, talking. I think," she said.  
"Yeah, well, they're still friends so, why wouldn't they talk," I said, picking the ball back up and spinning it around. I shot it at Sugar.  
"Well, you two are dating so wouldn't that be weird that she left you to find Brit," Marley asked.  
"What? We're not dating. We're just friends, you know," I said, trying to explain my situation.  
Mar just smiled, "Mhmmm, just friends. We've all heard that before."

I looked at her and she pointed to the stands using her head.  
"I can't go over there. I'd totally look like a jealous creep. She can-"

"She can talk to whoever she wants. We know, but you should go over there," Marley said, pointing. When I looked over, the two girls looked to have gone from a calm chat to being more heated. I didn't want to interrupt but I've seen how angry Brit can get. I started walking over, nonchalantly. When I saw Brit get in Santana's face I started walking a little faster. Santana could hold her own but she would never hurt Brit.  
"Hey Brit," I said, over her rage.  
"Oh goodie and here she is," said the blonde, not taking her eyes off Santana.  
"Yeah, it's been awhile. How's school going?" I asked, trying to mask my sarcasm.

"I'm a genius," she said, hoping over the rail and landing in front of me.  
"Brit, don't," said Santana from the stands.  
I looked up at her and saw a worried look on her face. Brit turned around also seeing the look and started walking away. Santana jumped down beside me.  
"She's pissed that we're dating," said San.  
"How did she find out?" I asked, still watching Brittany walk away.  
"I told her," she stated, also not taking her eyes off her. My head snapped towards her.  
"You told her we were dating?" I asked sounding more confused than anything.  
"Is that okay?" she asked, looking at me.  
"Yeah, no. That's awesome. I just wasn't sure we were…putting it out there," I said.  
"Well, maybe now you won't have to sneak out my window," she said, pulling on my t-shirt with that smirky smile.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

**A/N: This chapter discusses school violence. Reader discretion is advised. **

We were invited to a party Saturday night by some of the glee kids. After San's talk with Brit, we stayed around and tossed the ball around with Sug and Marley. They were impressed with San's skill and she told them she had been practicing and when I started laughing, she started chasing me with her stick.

Around 4:00pm, we headed back to Santana's to see if her parents wanted to join us for dinner. This was definitely Santana's idea; she said she wanted to tell them about us before we went back to school. The thought of sitting through that made my stomach twirl on the inside. Thankfully, they still weren't home when we arrived, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Really? It was going to be that bad?" Santana turned to me in her seat.

"Oh, was that out loud?" I asked with a grin.

"You're a wimp," she finished before leaning over kissing me; her lips were always so soft.

I let out a moan as Santana pulled away.

"Let's go inside," she said. I parked and followed her inside. We went up to her room and laid down on her bed. She propped herself up on an elbow and looked down at me.

"You have the most amazing eyes," said Santana, "they're like seven different blues."

"Are you hitting on me Miss Lopez?" I asked. She leaned down and kissed me again. When she pulled away, she had a troubled look in her eyes.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"Are you sure you want to go tonight?" She asked.

"Uh yeah, did you not hear the threats of being dragged there from Sugar?" I asked, sarcastically.

"What if Brit shows up? What if she tries something with you?" I looked at her, a little confused.

"She won't try anything with me," I said, trying to reassure her but not sure where this was coming from.

"That's what we were arguing about after I told her we were dating. She said she was going to kick your ass," shrugged San, with a small grin.

"What the hell? Didn't Brittany used to be sweet and innocent?" I asked.

"Yeah, not getting into school changed everything last year," said San.

"Yeah, because I remember when I first got to McKinley, it was Brit I had my eye on. I don't know how this happened," I said, pointing between her and me.

She laughed and tried to push me off the bed. I rolled back on top of her, pinning her down.

"Nothing will happen tonight. We're going out to have fun with friends we haven't seen in forever. It'll be great and should Brittany show up, then we'll leave, because I can think of some other fun activities I'd like to do with you," I said, leaning down and kissing her neck. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close.

The party was at Breadstick's. By the time we got there it was in full swing. The glee kids were up singing a song and to my relief Brittany wasn't up there. I was glad because I didn't want Santana's night ruined with her worrying about something happening. We walked over to where Sug and Marley were standing with Blaine and Tina.

"Hey!" said Tina with a huge smile, "so glad you guys made it. These parties aren't quite as good as your parties Jamie, but they do."

"You guys have to make sure you stick around for my song. I've been working on it all week," said Blaine, "and Santana you should totally get up there and give us one for old times."

"I'll think about it," she said, "and I wouldn't miss a Blaine song for the world."

We walked over to the bar for a drink.

"You should sing," I said.

"I haven't practiced anything and I haven't sang in ages," she protested, taking a sip from her straw.

"I hear you singing in the shower all the time and since when do you need practice?" I knew she wouldn't miss a chance to sing and with a little encouragement she'd get up there.

Marley was on stage singing with a boy, who I assumed was Jacob. We turned our stools around to watch.

"You look beautiful tonight, by the way," I leaned over and whispered in her ear. She turned and smiled at me. Then she jumped off the stool, gave me a quick kiss and said, "fine. I'll do it." With that, she went to find Blaine to tell him her song choice. After a quick break, Santana took the stage. Everyone started cheering. Santana looked even more incredible on stage, if that were possible.

"Hey guys! It's been awhile but here's one for the good ol' days!" The music to Nutbush City Limits started and she was amazing. Everybody was up dancing and singing and having a good time. When she did her big finish, everyone was clapping, some people were even calling encore. I was so happy for Santana. Once everything died down, there was still someone clapping. No one paid any attention to it; just figuring someone missed the cue. When it didn't stop everyone began looking for the source of the noise. Then I saw her.

My heart started racing, my eyes scanning the crowd for San. She wasn't on the stage anymore and I couldn't find her. Brittany started walking towards the stage; I kept my eyes on her. The way she walked made me think she was more than tipsy. She grabbed the mike from Blaine.

"Welllll," she belted into the mike, "wasn't that something!"

_Oh shit_, I thought to myself.

Brittany turned to Blaine and yelled, "Hit it!"

Blaine looked at her, completely confused, "hit what?"

Brittany rolled her eyes and walked over to the speaker, she plugged in her iPod and hit play. It was a slow song, I couldn't tell which one at first. My first thought was that she was going to finally start fighting to get Santana back. _Songbird, that was it_. All eyes were on Brittany as she sang along with the music. From where I was standing, her eyes were glued to a spot. I looked to see where she was looking and spotted Santana. She looked just as shocked as anyone. No body was moving. The song was coming to an end and Brittany started wading through the crowd. She was walking towards Santana. I didn't know what to do; clearly she wasn't angry if she just sang her a love song. She was about four feet from San and walked right passed her to a blonde boy standing behind Santana.

"I love you Sam Evans," said Brittany into the mike as she wrapped her arms around him. Santana turned and started running towards the door. Everyone started clapping, not knowing what had actually happened. I took off after Santana. Trying to get through the crowd was insane. The music went back on full blast and everyone started dancing again. Finally, I was outside in the night air, it had cooled down. I scanned the parking lot for Santana. _No where_. I reached for my phone and dialed her number automatically. _No answer_. Suddenly, someone burst through the doors behind me. I whipped around to see Marley.

"Is she okay? That was rough," she said.

"I don't know where she went," I said, panic obvious in my voice.

"I'll get Jacob and we'll start looking. I'll call you if we find her," Mar said, heading back inside.

I ran around the entire restaurant. She was gone. I started running to Santana's house, back the way we came. I had a feeling she wasn't at home but I didn't know where else to go. Then I thought of McKinley. I made a turn and doubled back to the high school at full speed. Minutes later, I was running through the parking lot; the school was dark. I went around to the back and when I got to the field I slowed down. My lungs were burning. I passed the Cheerios bench, empty. I kept walking to the stands. I couldn't see any movement; the lack of lighting wasn't helping. I took a chance and went to our spot on the bleachers at the back. I started running, when I got there they empty. I stopped to catch my breath. Then I heard the crying coming from around the corner. Santana was sitting on the ground in her dress, tears falling down her face.

"Hey," I said quietly, feeling everything inside me relax a little.

She looked up at me but couldn't say anything because she was so full of emotions. She just held her hands up and shook her head.

"I know," I said, staying where I was with my hands in my pockets.

"I know you want to be alone, but I just wanted to know that you were safe. I'm here if you need anything."

I walked back around the bleachers. I wasn't leaving this school without her. I jumped up into the stands and took a seat. I would wait all night. I pulled out my phone to text Marley that I had found her. Moments later, she text back letting me know that she found Santana's coat and purse she had left by the stage. I told her I'd pick it up tomorrow and put my phone away. I didn't really know what to do next. Clearly, she wanted to be alone or she wouldn't have come out here. Brittany clearly wasn't over her if she kept going out of her way to piss San off. I didn't understand it. Santana's bare feet on the steps broke my thoughts. She stood on the top step, arms crossed and heels in hand.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," I replied. I stood and offered her my jacket. She took it, setting her shoes down to put it on. I rolled my sleeves down as I sat. Santana moved closer and sat next to me; neither of us saying anything. I didn't know what to say. I felt like I was on the outside again, watching them fight as a couple.

"Thanks for finding me," said Santana.

"Well, if I had known you would run this far, I would have rethought it," I said, hoping for a smile, which came in small form.

"She's such a dick," said Santana, "I don't even care that she's moved on. I'm glad she has, I have." She wiped a tear away.

"But that was our song. That moment was special and she knew that," explained Santana.

It made more sense now. She was angry but she was also hurt. I reached for her hand. We sat there a little longer and then she started to shiver.

"Why don't we get out of here? A hot cup of something seems like a good idea right now," I suggested.

"Yeah, it does," she leaned up and kissed my cheek. We headed back to Santana's, stopping for something to warm us up.

The next day was rainy and gloomy. In a way, it matched Santana's mood. She put on a happy face for her parents but otherwise, couldn't get out of her funk. We met up with Marley and then spent the day tucked away under a blanket with snacks and movies. Sue had asked Santana to meet her in her office on Monday. So we decided to stay one more night.

Later that day, some of the glee kids text Santana and invited us out for a coffee. We met up with Tina, Blaine, Marley and Sug and it was just what Santana needed. The Lima Bean was always a place where we could relax with good people. When we got home from seeing our friends, I had a text from Brit.

**Hey, I know I messed up. **

**But Id like to talk to u. **

**Can we meet tomorrow?**

I didn't know if I trusted Brit or why she would want to talk to me; but I agreed, saying I'd be at the school around 10:30am. She text me back telling me she'd meet me in the auditorium.

The next morning, San and I walked to the school and we split up at Sue's office. It was 10:24am, I started towards meeting Brit. The halls were quiet since everyone was in class. I stepped into the dimly lit auditorium and found Brittany sitting on the stage. I walked down the steps and stood a couple feet away from her. It was hard to see Brit after she hurt Santana.

"Hey," she said quietly, not quite able to meet my eyes.

"Hi," I replied.

"I know what I did on the weekend was horrible," she began.

I rolled my eyes not needing to be here to know that.

"What do you want Brit?"

"I'm just scarred. She's my best friend Jamie," she said, her eyes filling with tears, "I didn't want to loose her. She's so important to me."

Her tears started to fall and I was beginning to feel somewhat bad for her.

"You've been doing this stuff forever Brit. You've freaked out at her over and over again," I said.

"I know. I know, I've been an ass. But I love her. I'm happy for you guys," she pouted.

I looked at her, questioningly.

"Honest, I want her to be happy. I've seen her with you; she's always smiling. That's why she came to find me on Saturday. She thought because I had moved on, we could move on like before. But it just felt like one more way I was losing her and I was a dick, again," she admitted.

"Look Brit, I don't know what this has to do with me," I started.

"I just wanted you to know that I love her but I only as my best friend. Well, I want to be hopefully," she replied.

"So tell her that," I said, beginning to understanding what a shock it would be to lose someone like Santana.

She was about to answer when a huge noise blasted from the hallway.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, jumping onto the stage, "was that a...a gun shot?"

We both turned facing up to the hallway. Another blast.

"Quick, lets get to the back," I said, helping Brit up and running back stage. We stood there listening for a second.

"Oh my god," I murmured, I could feel the color drain from my face.

"What?" whispered Brit, she looked scared.

"Santana's in Sue's office," I said in a voice, barely audible.

Brittany looked like she was going to throw up. Before I could think any more, the door opened to the auditorium. I held my breath instantly; Brit grabbed my arm and I pushed us up against the wall. I motioned for her to stay still and I went to look. I slowly peaked around the corner and saw a boy standing at the top. It looked like he was checking to make sure it was empty and left again. He had a gun in his hand. I went back to Brittany.

She was crying. I went to her and she fell into me.

"We're going to be okay," I whispered to her. I pulled out my phone and turned the sound off and reached for Brit's to do the same. I called 911 from her phone, while holding Brittany.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"There's a shooter at McKinley High School, we've heard two shots already,"

"Miss, are you in the school?"

"Yes, I'm hiding in the auditorium,"

"Is anyone with you?"

"My friend, Brittany Pierce."

"And what is your name?"

"Jamie Ellis."

"Do you know where the shooter is now?"

"No, he checked to see if the auditorium was empty and left," I explained in whispers, feeling my phone vibrate. I looked down to see a text from Santana.

I put the phone down and looked at Brit.

"I need you to talk to her. I have to find Santana."

Brittany just looked at me, shaking her head.

"Brit, please, she's in here somewhere. Alone," I tried.

She finally took the phone and began to answer the operator's questions. I wanted to call Santana but I was worried it would give her away if it rang.

**are you okay? **

**Where r u?! **

I was texting her back when her phone call interrupted. I answered right away.

"Jam?"

"San! Are you okay? Where are you?"

She answered back in a whisper, "I'm in the library, at the back."

"Have you heard any more shots?"

"No,"

Then, in the background of her phone, I heard a shot.

"San?!"

"He's in here," she whispered.

She stopped talking.

"Santana, listen to me. I'm coming to get you. There's a door in the back of library that opens next to backstage. Can you see it? It opens from the outside," I waited for her answer.

"Yes," she whispered.

"I'm going to come to that door."

"I'm scared Jamie,"

"I know. Just stay on the phone with me." I looked at Brittany; she was shaking uncontrollably.

"Brit," I said, grabbing her shoulder to get her to focus, "I have to get to Santana. I need you to stay here."

"No, please don't leave me," she pleaded.

"Brit, he's already checked here, he won't be back," I tried to calm her down.

"You don't know that! You don't know that!" she said. She was freaking out. I couldn't leave her. The door was just to the back of the stage and outside in the hall. I tried to calm her down and to follow me. I held her hand and walked cautiously through the back stage. When I got to the door, I waited, listening for movement on the other side. I didn't hear anything. I left Brit standing behind a curtain just in case; she was hidden from view. She was still on the line with the operator. I carefully cracked the door and peered out through the tiny crack.

"Santana?" I said back into my phone.

"Yeah?" She whispered.

"Is he still at the front of the library?"

"Yeah, I can hear him talking to someone," she answered, her voice trembling with fear. I stepped out into the hall and moved to the back library entrance.

"If I open the door, will he be able to see it?"

"I don't think so."

I waited, not sure what to do. I couldn't leave her in there alone. I tried to look into the window. I couldn't see the shooter but Santana was in the corner. She saw me and started crying more. I stepped back into the corner, feeling only a fraction of relief from seeing her.

"Hey, listen. Everything is going to be fine. Okay?" I whispered back into the phone, holding her gaze, "We just need to be calm, okay? Are you ready?"

"Yeah," she whispered back.

"Okay, I'm going to open it," I said, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach. I put my phone in my hoodie pocket. I grabbed the handle and carefully twisted the knob. I knew when I pushed it, there would be a loud click but if I went slowly enough it would just open. I pushed the door, millimeter by millimeter. Finally, it was wide enough that I could see her. San started crawling towards the door. She was almost to me when she screamed. The door was ripped open, out of my hands. He was standing in front of me with his gun pointed at Santana. His attention shifted to me but nothing else moved. I automatically put my hands up, not knowing what else to do. "No body is listening to me!" He shouted, "I said no body leaves!"

"That was me. I was trying to leave," I said, not thinking. I just wanted the gun off of Santana.

"You're all the same. It doesn't matter if you're a jock, or if you're a cheerleader, you were all so mean."

No one moved. Frozen with fear.

"Look at you! You think you're better than me because you wear that uniform?" He yelled.

He was looking passed me, I turned and saw Brittany, she had followed me into the hall.

"You," he said pointing at Brit, "get in here."

Brittany didn't move.

"Get in here!" He yelled louder.

She jumped and went to move past me inside the room. I stepped in front of her, blocking her from entry.

"It wasn't her. This is Brittany Pierce; she was the President of this school. She gave out candy sticks, she's innocent," I tried reasoning. My whole body was shaking. I could hear crying coming from both girls. I saw the people who were at the front of the library sneaking out with an officer from S.W.A.T. The shooter was staring at me. I didn't know what to do.

"You have no idea. I'm sick of people telling me how it is," he said through grinding teeth. He looked back at Santana. "All the jokes, all the pranks, the mean, mean words that WERE SAID!" He started yelling again at Santana.

"That was me," I lied. He looked back at me.

"Pardon?"

"Jamie, don't..." San cried.

"Shut up!" He yelled at her, "What was you?"

"All the mean things that were said. Santana heard them from me," I told him, "I ran my mouth all the time. I know repeating the mean things isn't any better, but it wasn't her. It was her who started that club, to help people," I said, trying to keep his focus on me. He had lowered his gun away from San.

"It doesn't matter any more," he mumbled, "I'm not the person everyone described me to be. But that's who everyone thinks I am," he mumbled, "And that because of you," he looked at me again and raised his gun.

"Don't, please," begged Santana, tears were streaming down her face.

The loud bang scared us all. The S.W.A.T team was all over the shooter and took him down in one attempt. Santana ran to me, screaming. She fell to the floor with me. I looked down and pulled my phone out of my hoodie. There was a bullet lodged in it.

"Oh my god," shouted Santana. She lifted my shirt. There was a massive bruise that instantly spread across my side and a shard of glass from the screen of my phone was poking out of my stomach.

"I'm okay," I said, just happy it wasn't a bullet.

One of the officer's knelt down beside us and asked Santana to step back. When she didn't move, Brittany stepped closer and pulled her into a hug as she started crying. The officer spoke into a walkie-talkie relaying my injuries.  
"We can't get a medic in here until it's all cleared, I need you to sit still," he said, helping me lean back on the wall.

"I need one of you to hold this compress on her wound," he said looking at the two girls. They both moved back over to me, sitting one on each side. Santana took my hand and was holding the compress around the shard of glass to stop the bleeding.

"You could've died," said Santana.

"I couldn't let you have all the attention, could I?" I said, with a smile.

"I'm serious," she said.  
"I'd never let anything happen to you," I said.

"You were shot," she tried to argue.  
"I knew he'd shoot me there," I tried.

"Jamie, I'm serious," Santana moved closer to me, "I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to you."

She leaned her head on my shoulder and I kissed her forehead.

"I feel the same way about you," I whispered. More and more officers were flooding the building. I looked at Brit.  
"Hey, you okay?" I asked.

"I was so scared. I don't know what I would have done. I literally couldn't move. You were trying to find Santana and I didn't even think to text Sam," she said.  
"Have you heard from him?" asked Santana.  
"He just text me, he's outside," she said.  
"That's good. He's okay," I assured her.  
"I've been horrible to you guys. I'm so sorry. I love you both," cried Brittany, hugging us both at the same time. A medic finally arrived and pushed the girls back while he looked at my stomach.

"You're going to need a few stitches," he assessed, "and we're going to need some x-rays to see if your ribs are broken."

He helped me onto a stretcher and belted me in.

"We're going with her," said Brittany, holding Santana's hand.

"I can only take one other person," said the medic, wheeling me out. I heard Brittany telling Santana to go and that she'd find Sam and meet us at the hospital. Santana got into the ambulance and found my hand once again. The fear was finally taking over now that I was out of the school and I couldn't help the tears. Santana moved closer.  
"You're okay, it's going to be okay," she murmured, kissing my hand and holding it against her chest.

I was released from the hospital later that night; Brittany and Sam, along with Santana's parents had met us at the hospital. Her mother was both devastated and relieved as she saw her daughter. We had given our statements to the police at the hospital, over and over again. It was hard to keep reliving it. It had been the most terrifying few hours of my life. Santana's phone had been ringing off the hook; even Lauren had called and was crying when Santana explained. I had called my Gramma from the hospital after my x-rays and stitches. She was in complete panic when she couldn't get a hold of me. When she finally heard my voice, she burst into tears causing a fresh wave of my own tears to appear. I told her I would be home in a few days and not to travel all the way out. It was chaotic with all the reporters and police and I didn't want her to go through that. I assured her over and over again that I was okay, but she insisted on talking to my doctor, who also assured her. Before we hung up, Gramma told me that my doctor sounded like a hottie and that she loved me very much. I rolled my eyes and told her I felt the same, smiling.

When we finally got back to the Lopez's, it was late and they helped me onto the couch. I tried to close my eyes, but I kept seeing that gun pointed at Santana. I heard steps on the stairs and waited to see who it was. Santana came creeping around the corner with her pillow.

"Jamie?" she whispered.  
I smiled, thinking how cute she looked in her pajamas.

"Hey," I replied.  
"I can't sleep," she said, tucking her pillow beside mine and cuddling on the over sized couch next to my good side.

"Me either," I whispered back, pulling her closer.

"I keep thinking about that gun pointed at you. If it had been a little bit higher or lower," she said, gently rubbing her fingers over my bandage.  
"But it wasn't, we just have to keep reminding ourselves that no one was hurt," I said.

"You lied about everything. You've never said one horrible thing about anyone in your life and yet you risked being shot for someone who has," she mumbled.  
"That's not who you are, people only see the front you put up," I answered.  
"You're this crazy, nice person who stood in front of a gun twice and for a person who had wanted to kick her ass not even twenty four hours before," Santana went on.  
"I would do it all over again, San."

"Why? I don't understand, you could've died."

"Because I love you," I had told her that once before, I waited for Santana to say something. I felt her sit up and look at me.  
"I love you too," she whispered.  
She leaned over me, careful not to hit my side and kissed me. It was soft and gentle and full of emotion. When I felt a tear fall onto my cheek, I stopped and held her face in my hands.

"What's wrong?" I asked.  
"I've wanted to tell you that since that night at school and then today happened. I didn't think I get the chance. I was honestly so scared to lose you," she was starting to lose her breath

"I know. I felt the same way. But we made it and I'm not going anywhere," I said.

We finally fell asleep, both exhausted and both feeling safe in each other's arms.


End file.
